ROURKELA: Even as several areas under Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) are facing acute water crisis, three water supply projects are yet to see the light of the day. Two of them are under Atal Mission for Renewal & Urban Transformation (AMRUT) that were sanctioned two years back.
Responding to a question of Rourkela BJP legislator Dilip Ray, Housing & Urban Development Minister Pushpendra Singh Deo recently informed that the Centre has allocated Rs 80.46 crore for three drinking water supply projects keeping in view the population growth in the next 30 years.
He said the RMC has capacity of supplying 47.90 MLD of piped water and 1,510 tubewells. He informed that out of the total 40 RMC Wards, only 20 are completely covered under piped water system, while 13 are partially covered and seven new Wards are yet to be covered.
Public Health & Engineering Department (PHED) Executive Engineer A Patel said the mega project of above Rs 77 crore under the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Medium & Small Town (UIDSSMT) would ensure piped water supply to about 23,000 uncovered households of slums and colonies including Tisco area, Chhend Colony, Civil Township, Basanti Colony, Koelnagar, Old Station area and slums of Gopabandhupali, Bondamunda, Deogaon, Rooptola and Timber Colony. While the first tender for the project had to be cancelled for technical reasons two years back, it will be floated again in September this year.
He said another project worth about Rs 1.6 crore under AMRUT scheme is in early stage of implementation and under this, a water treatment plant will come up at Jhirpani.
Work on another AMRUT project of about Rs 1.81 crore was recently started. It aims at renewing the weak and damaged water distribution network at the congested Nala Road area and the project would take a minimum of 11 months to be completed, Patel said.
The RMC currently has 33 Wards under it.
In July 2014, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had laid the foundation stone for a low height barrage-cum-bridge project at Jhirpani but work has not started so far.
Sources in the district administration said piped water supply would be extended to Jhartarang and Jagda gram panchayats and slum at Nabakrushnanagar under the AMRUT scheme.