BHUBANESWAR: The State Government on Friday claimed to have restored 100 per cent pipe water supply in cyclone-affected areas of Odisha.
According to the report released by the State Government, severely affected rural pipe water system in Puri, Khurda, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Bhadrak and Jajpur districts has been restored successfully. The report said 100 per cent pipe water supply has become possible through restoration of electricity and at a few places, through gen sets.
Besides, telecommunication connectivity has also improved in the affected areas. Stating that all the master switching centres have been restored, the report said mobile tower coverage is now 83 per cent in Khurda, 55 per cent in Puri and 91 per cent in Cuttack districts. Similarly, mobile tower coverage is now 85 per cent in the State Capital, 51 per cent in Puri town and 92 per cent in Cuttack city.
Out of the 99 fixed landline exchanges in Khurda district, 97 are functional while 34 out of 41 have been restored in Puri. All the 77 exchanges are functional in Cuttack district.
The report maintained that all block headquarters in Puri district have BSNL network. While all the 11 blocks have BSNL network coverage, 10 are covered by Airtel. The report said nine out of 11 blocks except Kanas and Krushnaprasad are covered by Jio network. Besides, 10 out of 11 blocks are covered by Vodafone Idea network. Intra circle roaming is available in Puri district.
Health and Family Welfare department has been working in full swing to provide medical services and facilities to the cyclone-affected people. The department has made adequate deployment of doctors and paramedics, distribution of 24 lakh sanitary napkins among the adolescent girls and women in Puri and Khurda districts as well as the allocation of additional funds for undertaking sanitation activities.
Official sources said 20,161 cleanliness drives were conducted and 89,091 open water sources have been disinfected in the affected areas while 52 open water sources were flagged as unsafe for drinking.