Paradip: Rapid industrialisation and modern lifestyle have led to an acute water crisis in this port town due to a sharp decline in groundwater level, a report said Monday.
The water crisis is not limited to Paradip only but its impact is also being felt in Nuagad and Paradipgad panchayats adjoining the port town. The seriousness of the water crisis can be gauged from the fact that over 90 percent of the families in these areas are purchasing packaged drinking water (40-litre jars) to meet their water needs as the tube wells have stopped pouring out water.
The sharp decline in groundwater level has sparked alarm among the residents and the authorities. However, the authorities are yet to take up any concrete steps to alleviate the suffering of the people.
Some of the functioning tube wells give out water that is unfit for consumption as it is saline and rich in iron content. A villager Pramod Jena of Nuagad village alleged that the water is not only unfit for consumption but leaves stains on clothes and other materials. Clothes of the villagers turn red and black when they try to wash them under the tube well.
According to Jena, Nuagad village comprises 475 families and almost every family is purchasing packaged drinking water for consumption. A woman shopkeeper Soudamini Pradhan said that she sells a vanload of water bottles daily in the village.
Another villager Dilip Swain said he had a 1,000 feet deep tube well in his house which his family members were using for a long time. However, water from the tube well has become unfit for consumption since last year as it gives off a pungent smell, and a strong metallic and salty taste. The situation is almost same in the Paradipgad market area where one can get fresh water only after digging 1,400 feet down.
In past, there were as many as 10 rivers and creeks in between these two panchayats. However, these water bodies have been buried after rapid industrialisation took place in the area. Small creeks like Haldipani, Nayanjori and Samukatimunda have vanished from the area. The only manmade water body Taladanda canal is present which is supplying water to the industrial plants.
The sharp decline in groundwater level is attributed to rampant use of groundwater by large industrial plants in the port town.
A junior engineer Manas Murmu of public health engineering organisation (PHEO) confirmed the development. He said that water level is going down day by day for last three years and regretted that they can do nothing in this regard.
Senior engineer Gangadhar Sethy of Paradip Port pinned the blame on modern lifestyle. He said that before 2000 most people were attending to their daily chores in rivers and other water bodies in the area. A person then was using only five litre of water on a daily basis while now a person uses 220 litre of water to meet his daily needs. He said that people only are responsible for this development while warning that the situation might get worse in future.
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