Post News Network
Jahnapanka, Nov 30: Residents of Padmnapur and Jahnapanka villages in Boudh district have been suffering as drinking water projects have been in limbo for several months. Though the villagers have been making several pleas to the authorities concerned, their requests have fallen on deaf ears.
Sources said a water project was conceived at an estimated cost of Rs 20 lakh in Padmnapur village in 2012 after several complaints. A bore well was dug and pipes were laid to supply drinking water to households. Former speaker Pradip Kumar Amat inaugurated the hurriedly-conceived water project to end the woes of the villagers. However, the project stopped functioning barely a few months after its inauguration, compounding the miseries of the villagers.
With the project in limbo for over six months, villagers are seen standing in a long queue near a tube well at Panchayat High School to fetch buckets of water. Some people even fell sick by using water from nullahs and ponds as the tube well did not pump out water in August, said villagers, adding that the drinking water project is likely to become defunct soon due to poor construction. Though the officials concerned have been informed on several occasions, they are yet to take up repair work, the villagers said.
Availability of drinking water is no better in Jahnapanka village. Around 1,400 people have been facing difficulties as a drinking water project is in limbo for the past four months. Sources said a project under Swajal Dhara scheme was proposed in 2004-05. A bore well was dug and pipes were procured after the government sanctioned 90 per cent of funds for the project, while the rest was contributed by villagers as per norms of the scheme.
However, the project did not take off for six years due to managerial issues. Though the project became functional in 2012 after several strikes and protests, it remains dysfunctional for over eight months in a year. Locals allege that drinking water has been a perennial problem in the area as water projects remain dysfunctional due to poor construction. The villagers have threatened to stage protests in front of the collectorate if the repair work is not taken up at the earliest.
