Bhadrak/Udala: With mercury on the rise, an acute water crisis continues to grip most parts of Bhadrak district. The administration has been holding review meetings one after another over the issue, but it has allegedly failed to take expeditious steps to sort out the problem.
Scores of drinking water projects have been lying defunct in several parts of the district. According to a report, 62 drinking water projects have been lying defunct in the district since 2012. Four review meetings had been held over the water crisis before the summer this year. However, the situation in rural areas has remained unchanged.
A recent review meeting revealed that 62 out of 186 projects have been lying defunct due to non-electrification. In a report of the rural water supply and sanitation (RWSS) department, the authorities have never pointed out that many drinking water projects have been dysfunctional due to substandard work.
Locals said substandard pipes, motors and machines were used in some of the projects which have conked out after working for some days. At some places, the projects have been in disuse as electricity has been disconnected by the power utility company over pending dues.
While old and defunct projects have not been repaired, the department is reportedly busy taking up new projects. It was learnt that people in many parts of Tihidi, Chandbali and Basudevpur blocks have to suffer a lot as drinking water available to them is saline. Locals have demanded alternative ways to supply them safe drinking water.
As many as 26 drinking water projects in Tihidi block, seven in Bhadrak block, eight in Bhandaripokhari block, six in Dhamnagar block, two in Chandbali block, five in Basudevpur and eight in Bant block are in disuse.
In a related report from Udala in Mayurbhanj district, people in four wards of Udala NAC are left high and dry due to an acute water crisis. The government has built an overhead tank for drinking water at a cost of Rs 27 lakh. But not a single drop of water was supplied in the last two years.
This RWSS project, inaugurated April 15, 2015, has a capacity of supplying 1 lakh litres of water to households in the civic body area. An assistant engineer said there is a technical glitch in the project. He had assured that the project will be made operational in a few days but nothing has been done till date, locals alleged.
Residents said they have taken up the issue with the collector and even with the Prime Minister’s Office, but nothing has been done in this direction.
