ROURKELA: Scarcit y of drinking water remains a perennial problem of Gopabandhupali which covers a host of slums spread across Wards 11 and 13 and part of Ward 12 under Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC). Years back, the Gopabandhupali slum cluster was covered under the Urban Infrastructure Development for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) project and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme to augment distribution network and provide house connections to residents. However, a major chunk of the population is yet to get piped water.
Local resident and former BJP councillor Pramila Das said till now, many in Coolie Khatal Basti, Indra Nagar, Amarnath Basti, Timber Colony, Yug Nirman Basti, Lohra Basti and other areas have not yet received house connections. Slum pockets along the Railway Colony main road have been connected with pipelines but piped water is yet to reach them. On March 30, an overhead tank was inaugurated with much fanfare. But it is of no help as water is not reaching connected houses due to faulty pipelines. Das further claimed that around 15,000 slum dwellers continue to face acute drinking water scarcity.
Another 15,000 population is being provided with piped water but erratically. Jyoti Sharma, a resident of a slum near Shanti Bhawan, said she got piped water connection, but water is being released for hardly five minutes. Sharma said she has to walk around 100 metre to fetch drinking water from a nearby tank. Similarly, Bijay Yadav got piped water connection with a metre almost two years back. But he is yet to get piped water. Superintending engineer of the Public Health and Engineering Organisation (PHEO) Adil Mohammed said piped connections were provided to residents in different phases. Currently, pipelines are being laid in uncovered areas of Gopabandhupali. The PHEO has set a target to ensure water supply to all slum households by next year. For the time being, adequate water tankers would be provided to Gopabandhupali.