56 per cent of Odisha depends on hand pump; worst-performing state with availability of piped water
BHUBANESWAR: Odisha is one of the four worst-performing States in the country in terms of availability of piped water. The National Sample Survey (NSS) released recently claimed that the hand pump was the major source of drinking water for a whopping 56 per cent households in the State.
The 76th round survey conducted from July to December 2018 on ‘Drinking Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Housing Condition’ revealed around 14 per cent households were not getting sufficient drinking water throughout the year.
While around 10 per cent households in urban areas do not have access to drinking water, 15 per cent households in rural areas were not getting drinking water despite Government’s tall claims that 98 per cent households are provided safe drinking water.
The ground survey indicated that 63.7 per cent households in rural pockets and 20.8 per cent households in urban localities used hand pump as the principal source of drinking water.
Highest of 88 per cent households in Bihar used hand pump as major source of drinking water, followed by 71.7 per cent in Uttar Pradesh and 52.3 per cent households in Jharkhand.
While 10.2 per cent households in rural and nine per cent households in urban areas drew water from public tap or stand pipe, only 5.2 per cent households in rural and 41 per cent in urban Odisha had access to piped water supply.
Surprisingly, the number of households depending on tube-wells for primary source of drinking water is more in urban areas.
At least 24.5 per cent families fetched water from tube-well in urban localities compared to only 8.3 per cent in rural areas.
What is alarming is that nearly nine per cent households in rural parts and 1.8 per cent in townships in the State fetched drinking water from unprotected well.
Over 78 per cent households did not use any method for treatment of drinking water. Odisha was among 10 States where above 70 per cent families used untreated drinking water.
While only 7.5 per cent households in the State used electric purifier and 2.3 per cent used boiling, 7.5 per cent households filtered water with cloth.
A whopping 83.3 per cent households in rural Odisha used untreated drinking water against 56.7 per cent in urban areas where 26.8 per cent households got their water treated through electric purifier.