Luna riverbed dredged, water crisis in Odisha's Kendrapara solved, claims civic body
KENDRAPARA: To tide over water crisis in Kendrapara municipality during summer, the public health engineering organisation (PHEO) has dredged the riverbed of Luna at Kalapada which seems to have met the drinking water needs of over 75,000 people.
“Luna river had dried up and was not de-silted for many years due to which sand and mud had accumulated on the riverbed. We dredged it to facilitate flow of water. The riverbed has been dredged for a length of 1 km, 20 feet deep and 30 feet wide to facilitate collection of water and its supply through pipelines,” assistant engineer, PHEO, Kendrapara Raman Kumar Dash said. Dash further informed that around 1.80 lakh litre of water is continuously pumped out for around 16 hours a day to cater to drinking water needs of around 75,000 residents of Kendrapara municipality.
“The town reels under severe water crisis every summer as the river goes dry. This year, the PHEO officials solved the issue by dredging the water body,” said chairperson of Kendrapara municipality Sarita Sahoo.
Though the problem has been solved in Kendrapara town, water scarcity looms large in many riverside villages due to non-dredging of the river in their localities.
Bibhuti Jena, resident of Silipur village said they are facing severe water crisis due to non-dredging of Luna river in their area. Ranjan Samal of Kusunapur village demanded that the river be dredged and the water supplied to their houses too.
Umesh Chandra Singh, president of Krishak Sabha district unit, alleged that people were facing water crisis due to the slipshod attitude of the state government.
“The groundwater table is also declining in many parts of the district because of excessive withdrawal necessitated by increased demand for fresh water. The government should take steps to conserve groundwater and dredge rivers during summer to solve water scarcity,” he demanded.