Women take boat to fetch water in flood-hit Kendrapara
KENDRAPARA: The sight of villagers, mostly women, rowing boats to fetch water is a common sight as a large number of flood-affected residents in Rajkanika, Aul and Pattamundai blocks of Kendrapara district are staring at acute drinking water crisis as flood has rendered wells and hand pumps unusable, creating unhygienic conditions.
Once reliable sources of clean drinking water, hand pumps and wells now pump only contaminated water due to flood inundation.
The crisis is most severe in Gopalpur, Sukdevpur, Gobindapur and Manapur under Aul block, and Srirampur, Damarapur, Balabhadrapur and Singhagaon under Pattamundai block. The Brahmani river continues to flow above danger level, creating a vast ocean dotted with village-islands.
“We are forced to reach the nearest half-submerged tube well with much difficulty by rowing a boat to fetch a pot of water,” said Jharana Jena of Gopalpur village.
Like Jharana, many flood-affected villagers of Gopalpur and nearby areas are also collecting water with the help of country boats.
“I provided my boat to the villagers to collect water from a tube-well. Many women are bravely rowing my boat to collect water,” said Nityananda Behera, a fisherman.
“We lost everything, including our house and crops. Now to save our lives, we need drinking water,” said Parikhita Behera of Singhagaon village.
Anapurna Sethi, sarpanch of Penthapala gram panchayat under Pattamundai block said hundreds of people from flood-hit Aul, Rajkanika and Pattamundai blocks are faced with the dilemma of drinking contaminated water, putting them at risk of water borne diseases.
District emergency officer Amiya Kumar Swain said that health officials are providing drinking water, halogen tablets and medicines to affected persons.
The Rural Water Supply and Sanitation department has been instructed to supply drinking water through water tanks to address the crisis, he added.