Jajpur: Marred by neglect and a deadly insurgency Jajpur district remains the most deprived region in the state when it comes to piped water supply, reports said.
In a startling disclosure, reports have revealed that only 5% of the district have piped water supply, and 95% of the population of the district is still without basic water supply.
As summer nears, the defunct water projects will add to the woes of the people. Although Jajpur is considered a developing district, the condition of water supply projects reveals a different picture.
Jajpur district has 10 blocks and 1,560 villages. As per reports 3,78,645 people live in the 10 blocks of the district with a huge population of 17,31,950. If sources are to be believed only 18,900 people are have piped water of the 17.31 lakh, that is a mere 5% of the population.
The remaining 95% depend on tube wells, wells and other water sources. On the other hand 1,27,269 families have been provided with bathrooms among which 1,04,600 have latrines under the Swacchh Bharat Mission. The remaining families are supposed to get bathrooms by October 2, 2019, reports added.
Although the administration claims that of the 1560 villages, 405 have been provided with water supply from 293 water projects, 30 water projects are defunct. Moreover, many residents are not provided with water although they have connected pipelines to their homes.
A water supply project was started in Mukundpur panchayat under Korei block in 2011. The tender was finalized in fiscal 2014-15 and all basic work on the water project has been completed. However, even today residents do not have water supply due to reasons best known to the officials concerned.
Similarly, the famous water project in Dankari village is yet to be completed even after four years. Moreover, as many as eight other water projects are defunct in Jajpur, Sukinda, Danagadi, Binjhar and Korei blocks.
Among them are the Rishipur and Malpada water project at Chatisdebi village in Jajpur block, Kharadi project under Sukinda block, Uchabali under Dangadi block, Pankapal project, Mantira project, Binjharpur project and Panikoili project under Korei block.
District Rural Water Supply and Sanitation executive engineer Amiya Kumar Parija said the Mukundpur water project would be completed in 15 days and water supply would commence soon. PNN