PARADIP: Taps have done dry in Paradip. With ground water level depleting and water projects defunct, people are facing a harrowing time. In slums, where the problem has taken an alarming proportion, people can be seen standing in serpentine queues in front of stand posts or tube-wells every day.
The existing water supply system, being managed by the Paradip Port Trust (PPT), does not suffice in meeting the growing water needs of people. The town has a population of two lakh with a majority of it settled in 26 slums.
There are three water reservoirs in the town which store and provide two million gallon litres of drinking water per day against the daily requirement of five million gallon litres. Although the reservoirs can store up to three million gallon litres, water carrying capacity in these structures has gone down over the years due to deposition of silt and lack of maintenance.
The situation further worsens due to illegal pumping of groundwater by different companies and construction agencies. Even as the Orissa Groundwater Rule, 2006,(regulation and control of development and management) has been enacted to regulate exploitation of ground water resources, it fails to prevent illegal pumping of ground water for industrial activity. Besides, many pipe lines have developed cracks which results in wastage of water.
The PPT had inked an agreement with the Water Resources Department to draw water from the Taladanda canal against an annual water cess.However, as water level in the canal has gone down, the town is experiencing immense water scarcity. Slum dwellers in Badapadia, Nua Bazaar, Nehru Bangala, Bangalipada, Sandhakuda, Lockpada and other slums are not covered under the PHED’s piped water supply scheme.
Water tankers pressed in by the municipal authorities are the sole source of drinking water for over more than one lakh slum dwellers.
Executive Engineer of PHED Gangadhar Sethi said water supply to the town is done only once in a day due to low water level in Taladanda canal.
WATER WOES
● Water level in Taladanda canal has gone down resulting in scarcity
● The existing water supply system, being managed by the Paradip Port Trust, does not suffice in meeting the growing water needs of people.
● The town has a population of two lakh with a majority of it settled in 26 slums