Biswa Bhusan Mohapatra
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, June 4: The housing and urban development department is yet to take steps to establish a Water Corporation that would oversee supply of drinking water in the capital city, despite a decision taken by the state Cabinet in this regard nearly six years back.
The state Cabinet had in 2009 decided to constitute the Orissa Water Corporation (OWC), which was meant to take the responsibility of ensuring water supply in the capital city from Public Health Engineering Organisation (PHEO). As per the decision, the OWC was supposed to be implemented in the capital city on a pilot basis and later extended to Cuttack and Puri.
As per the 74th amendment, responsibility of urban water supply should have been transferred to urban local bodies (ULBs). However, because of various reasons including lack of expertise, PHEO is tasked with the duty. PHEO will implement large-scale water projects in different urban local bodies and the corporation will be responsible for water supply and its maintenance, sources said.
Now, PHEO is the single organisation providing drinking water to both rural and urban areas, and is overburdened with work with minimal staff. This, combined with a spate of water-borne diseases like jaundice spreading in urban areas in the state, is taking a toll on the image of the state government, posing questions as to its ability to provide safe drinking water to its citizens.
However, urban development secretary G Mathivathanan said the proposed Water Corporation would see the light of day this financial year.
“As the formation of the Water Corporation is a complex process that includes restructuring of institutional structures, formation of new urban cadres, and appointment of officials, it took us a long time,” Mathivathanan said.
He said the Cabinet had approved the formation of the corporation to provide drinking water to only Bhubaneswar but the department is now planning to implement in all other corporations, such as Berhampur, Cuttack, Sambalpur and Rourkela. “We have prepared all documents and will send them for the approval of the Chief Minister. Following which, it will be sent to the Cabinet. I hope it will be implemented in the current financial year,” the secretary said.
As per the government decision, the establishment costs during the initial three years will be borne by the H&UD department and the maintenance costs will be borne by the corporation.
“There are some financial implications in the formation of the corporation. The annual maintenance cost of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) stands at Rs 78.38 crore, whereas the revenue collection stands at only Rs 17.38 crore. There is a shortfall in revenue of Rs 34.79 crore, so the corporation may not be able to meet the cost of repair and maintenance on its own,” said a senior official of the department.
The setting up of the corporation will help tackle the outbreak of water-borne diseases like jaundice, say observers. However, the prolonged delay in establishing the corporation has not met with public protests as the issue is not fresh in people’s minds.
“I came to know about such a project only after you told me,” Kalyani Acharya, a resident of Unit IX in the city, told this correspondent. “It is a good decision by the government but then it should be executed in time. We are getting sufficient amount of drinking water, but there are issues with its purity. If it is set up soon, it may ensure that future outbreaks of water-borne diseases are prevented,” Kalyani added.
The proposed corporation would be formed on the lines of state PSUs and will be accountable to both the municipal corporation and the state government. Its performance would be assessed through a performance-based management contract, official sources said.
