No end to decade-long drinking water crisis in Cuttack

There seems to be no let up in the decade-long drinking water crisis for residents of Bishalyakarani Lane in the Millennium City. 
Representational Imag.
Representational Imag.

CUTTACK: There seems to be no let up in the decade-long drinking water crisis for residents of Bishalyakarani Lane in the Millennium City. 

Drinking water is being supplied to the locality for six months in a year and for the remaining period, residents struggle to fulfil their needs. Locals alleged that though they have been paying `120 towards water tax every month, officials of Public Health Engineering Organisation (PHEO) have turned a blind eye to the crisis.

More than 1,000 persons of around 300 families reside in Bishalyakarani Lane located near Madhupatna police station in Ward 52 of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC). According to residents, supply of drinking water to their locality through pipelines is stopped from February to July every year and this practice has been continuing for the last 10 year. In the remaining six months, locals face a lot of hardships to avail drinking water. 

Besides, of the four public tube-wells installed in the locality, one is lying defunct and the other three supply polluted water. Around 30 per cent of the residents have their personal tube-wells. Sources said due to drastic fall in groundwater level, many tube-wells in the area fail to supply water. The residents, meanwhile, have to depend on PHEO for availing drinking water which is supplied from the pump house located at Badambadi New LIC Colony. 

But this too fails to cater to the needs of locals as water is unable to reach to the homes of Bishalyakarani Lane residents through pipelines due to lack of enough pump pressure. Often, the situation worsens to such an extent that the PHEO authorities are compelled to supply water through tankers. 

The residents also alleged that though they have been demanding for installation of a pressure motor and changing of the old pipelines, authorities of both CMC and PHEO have turned a deaf ear to their problems. They threatened to take to the streets if no step is taken to find a permanent solution to the water crisis soon.

PHEO Executive Engineer Sushant Kumar Ghadei said the issue would be solved within six months after installation of a new drinking water project under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme.

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