Jhumpura: Summer is yet to come, but people in various hilly forested pockets under Jhumpura block in Keonjhar district started facing shortage of drinking water with water table going down and tube wells and solar projects lying defunct.
The worst affected by the problem is Kutugan panchayat where a solar-powered tube well is not working properly. Locals of Brahmanijhari village said that the system was delivering less water.
“Of the four solar-powered tube wells, two have almost gone out of order. One is completely defunct. The other one is delivering foul-smelling contaminated water which is not drinkable,” the villagers rued.
One tube well is on the premises of a primary school, but has been lying non-operational for a long time. Though a tube well has been set up near Anganwadi, its handle has not been fitted.
This has become a problem in preparing mid-day meal for students. Water is fetched from a private tube well, about a half km away. Students have to go there to wash their dishes.
Villagers like Panu Purty, Ganesh Purty, Iswar Birua, Bijay Laguri and Gidu Purty expressed their displeasure over shortage of drinking water in the area.
Similarly, people in Chimpinda and Bagarampada villages have been facing a lot of hardships as solar-powered tube wells are not working there also.
Former sarpanch Gita Munda said that most people depend on the only solar-powered tube well at Brahmanijhari village. “Though we have repeatedly apprised the RWSS officials at Jumpura of the defunct tube well, none is paying heed,” she said.
It is learnt that as Kutugan panchayat is a mining-hit area, solar-powered projects are being set up with funds from the District Mineral Fund (DMF).
Over Rs 10 lakh is being spent on each project. But most projects have become non-functional for lack of maintenance and repair.
However, RWSS engineers Mohan Singh and Subhasmita Khamari said that they have received complaints and the solar-powered projects will be set right by technicians. PNN
