Post News Network
Berhampur, Feb 22: The Orissa Urban Infrastructure Development Fund has sanctioned Rs 80 crore for the Janibili-Dakshinpur underground pipeline project, aimed at addressing the water scarcity problem of Silk City denizens.
Even as Rs 124 crore has been estimated for the project, the rest Rs 44 crore is likely to be sanctioned in a phased manner, said executive engineer of the public health and engineering department (Berhampur division) Deba Sundar Mohapatra.
Under the project, old pipelines in the city will be replaced with new ones and overhead tanks will be constructed in several wards to reserve water.
Three years ago,Rs 59 crore was estimated for the project. However, due to delay in starting the project work, the estimated project cost escalated to Rs 124 crore. A detailed project report has been prepared for the purpose, which has been approved by the state government, Mohapatra said.
At present, water is supplied from Janibili dam of river Rushikulya to Dakshinapur reservoir through a canal. Under the new project, water will be supplied from Janibili dam to Dakshinapur reservoir through huge underground pipelines.
According to PHED sources, wastage of water would be checked if new pipelines are laid from Janibili to Dakshinpur and the problem of water shortage in the city can be sorted out.
The foundation stone for the project was laid by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik October 3, 2013. It was planned to take a loan from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco) to fund the project.
A few months ago, a delegation of Hudco had reviewed the proposed
project and gave its nod to sanction the loan. However, due to high rate of interest, the state government did not approve
the proposal.
The Dakshinpur water reservoir was constructed in the British era when the population of the city was only 30,000 in 1901. The current population of the city is more than 4 lakh. In view of the increased population, supply of water through underground pipelines has
become a necessity.
