CUTTACK: As the temperature soars and public water facilities lie defunct, people scramble for water near the sole pipeline in Dhansar under Banki block to collect drinking water, breaking social distancing norms for survival sake. The villagers of Dhansar depend on a stand post on Khurda-Damapada roadside near Mill Chowk which has been lying defunct for the last several years. While every summer drinking water is supplied in tankers, this year things turned worse due to lockdown and to meet their needs, the villagers dug up the ground near the stand post three days back.
“We have no other way than to depend on the connecting pipe and are forced to violate social distancing norm,” said the villagers.In another case, the sole pipe line drinking water project at Nuagan in Katikata panchayat under Nischintakoili block within Mahanga Assembly segment too has been lying defunct for the last nine years. Surprisingly, Mahanga is the home constituency of Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Minister Pratap Jena, who shown little interest in the projects sanctioned for the area.
Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) department had set up the pipeline drinking water project at Nuagaon at an expenditure of `50 lakh in 2011. The project was to provide water to Nuagan, Katikata and Paschima Khanda Bhola. Barely after six months of inauguration by Jena on December 6, 2011, the project went defunct. While the stand posts have been broken, underground pipes have been damaged allegedly due to use of sub-standard materials.
“Though we have been demanding to make the defunct pipe line drinking water project operational, no step has been taken to restore it,” alleged the villagers. Meanwhile, the villagers of Dhansar have urged the administration to streamline supply of drinking water to their village after lifting of lockdown restrictions from essential services, which also includes plumbing.
There are over 500 pipeline water supply projects and 23,000 tube wells to cater to the drinking water needs of 18,89,301 people in 14 blocks of the district. A majority of the projects and tube-wells are defunct, either due to lack of repair and maintenance or ground water depletion. With the departmental staff away from duty due to lockdown, complaints and reminders for repair now await their return.