BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday dedicated to people 100 piped water supply projects for rural areas and announced that piped water would be provided to all panchayats by 2017. "I am happy to dedicate 100 rural piped water supply projects in the service of people of our State on the birth anniversary of Utkal Gaurav Madhusudan Das," Naveen said. "Drinking water has been our priority and we have targeted to cover all our panchayats by 2017 with pipe water supply," the Chief Minister said and requested citizens not to waste water. He said villagers should take care of the infrastructure of drinking water projects.
Rural Development Minister Badri Narayan Patra said 100 more drinking water projects will be completed within two months. The State Government has decided to set up 954 drinking water projects keeping in view the requirement of people.Principal Secretary in Rural Development Department and Special Relief Commissioner PK Mohapatra said the projects, being implemented at a cost of `72 crore, will help 1.72 lakh people residing in rural areas. "Out of 954 projects, the Government has so far completed 347. We are targeting to complete all the remaining projects by the end of 2016-17 financial year," he said.