BHUBANESWAR: Executive director of International Water Association UK, London Dr Kalanithy Vairavamoorthy on Saturday lauded the ‘Drink from Tap’ initiative of the state government. Addressing a state-level function for dedicating drink from the tap water supply in 18 cities by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at Lokseva Bhawan here, Vairavamoorthy said such an initiative is possible only because of strong political will, community participation, and adoption of technology.
“I realise from my experience that in transition from an intermittent water supply system to 24x7 supply, the challenges were huge and one might say insurmountable. But Odisha’s transformative 24x7 ‘drink from tap’ quality water supply model to its urban citizens has proved me wrong. Here you have combined the technical solutions with strong and visionary political leadership coupled with community participation”, Vairavamoorthy said. While dedicating Drink from Tap at 18 cities, the chief minister praised Mission Shakti SHGs as Jal Sathis in driving the mission.