JAGATSINGHPUR: The Rs 137-crore mega pipe water supply project, designed to supply water to 133 water-scarce coastal villages in Erasama, Balikuda and Naugaon blocks, has become defunct due to an acute shortage of water in Devi river.
As a result, villagers continue to face severe water crisis, even during the winter season. The Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) department has sought the intervention of the state government to immediately construct an instream storage structure (ISS) before the summer season, warning that the situation may worsen.
Launched in 2018, the state government allocated Rs 137 crore for the project which sources water from Devi river near Devidola in Naugaon block. The project aimed to transport water to Ambasal water treatment plant in Balikuda block where it would be filtered and supplied to 133 villages.
Over the past year, project infrastructure, including pipelines and the treatment plant, are complete, and water has reached the treatment plant. However, the operation is hampered as only one of the two intake well pump chambers functions due to insufficient water levels in the river.
Consequently, many villages remain deprived of adequate drinking water, worsening the water scarcity problem. The situation reaches a critical stage during summer months, creating severe hardships for saline-affected villages.
To operate the project at full capacity, nearly 15 million liters per day (MLD) of water is required but current water availability in Devi is insufficient to meet this demand. Declining water level in the river has severely impacted the functionality of the intake well, further reducing supply to the villages.
The project was envisioned to benefit 63 villages in Balikuda, 57 in Erasama and 13 in Naugaon. To address the issue, the RWSS wing has proposed constructing an ISS near the intake well at Devidola. The proposed ISS, with a capacity of 15 MLD, is estimated to cost `18 crore and is critical to ensuring adequate water supply.
Superintending engineer of RWSS, Jagatsinghpur, highlighted the issue to the engineer-in-chief of RWSS and the additional chief engineer, Cuttack.
Assistant engineer, RWSS Tapan Kumar Rout said, declining water level in the Devi at Devidola has rendered one pump chamber defunct, impacting the project’s operations. “A proposal has been submitted to the government for constructing an ISS with a capacity of 15 MLD to address the water crisis,” he added.