Jhumpura: As a solar-powered drinking water project and tube well are lying defunct, people in hilly and remote areas under Jhumpura block of Keonjhar district are forced to drink water from streams and pits, a report said. Drinking unhygienic water may lead to sickness in the locality, sources said Wednesday.
According to the report, the government has made provisions of solar-powered drinking water projects in hilly and remote panchayats like Malda, Nayagad, Basantpur, Kutugan and Nischintapur.
Over 200 tube wells have been set up in these areas too while nearly Rs 10 lakh from the DMF fund has been spent for these projects.
The state-owned OREDA had been awarded a contract to set up solar panels to run drinking water projects. A project was set up in Malda panchayat, but it was left half-done. Two years have passed, but steps have not been taken to get the solar project working, locals alleged.
The company is bound by an agreement to repair the project whenever necessary till five years of their installation.
As water is not available from the solar project, people have to drink water from a nearby stream, said a villager of Kutugan. The villagers accused the OREDA of being apathetic to their problem.
Villagers of Andharkhamani, Goduatopa, Hatimara, Sanakalimati, Bagarampada Sahi, Jampada Sahi, Kutugan and Chipinda alleged that nobody from the OREDA or RWSS comes to repair once the solar systems go out of order.
Unless five to six projects go defunct in the area, the OREDA officials will not come for repair, they alleged.
At Kutugan, tow solar projects have been lying defunct for the last two months.
The villagers apprised the Jhumpura-based RWSS division of their miseries that have cropped up over shortage of water, but no steps have been taken to set these projects right.
When asked about the problem, a junior engineer who is in charge of these projects at the RWSS office, said he is on leave for the last two months.
Another engineer Subhamsita Khamari said that she has intimated the problem to the district office.
Dayanidhi Sahu, executive engineer of the Keonjhar RWSS office said that technical staff f the OREDA has been intimated about the defunct solar projects. These projects will be repaired, Sahu added.
