Boudh: The residents of Boudh town are suffering from the worst ever drinking water crisis even though the town is situated on the banks of the river Mahanadi.
The population of Boudh town is more than 22,000 and the public health department has failed to cater to the drinking water needs of its residents. The drinking water requirement of local people is nearly 35 lakh litres per day.
Based on the present infrastructure, the department is able to provide 24 lakh litres of drinking water per day. Previously, residents of the town were being supplied drinking water twice a day for two hours each time.
As the number of consumers increased, the frequency was reduced to once a day and for just one and half hours. In such a situation, most of the families are depending upon tube wells.
There are 1939 pipeline connections in the town out of which 66 are in government offices, 163 in governmental quarters, 1691 are private connections and 19 are commercial lines. Apart from these, drinking water is also being supplied to the residents of Boudh town through 190 stand posts.
Allegedly, many people have taken unauthorised connections, by having illegal nexus with unscrupulous staffers. In some places, supplied water is also being suctioned through motor pumps.
Moreover, despite repeated complaints put up by the residents, departmental authorities are showing inertia towards this issue. Interestingly, there being scores of commercial organisations in Boudh town, only 19 commercial connections have been given here.
On the other hand, three overhead tanks have been constructed in the town. Local people have strongly resented the critical issue and demanded a permanent solution to the issue.
