New drinking water project for Balangir

Following report is from http://www.telegraphindia.com:

Balangir, Nov. 19: The state government has initiated the process to have a second drinking water project for Balangir town that has been facing acute drinking water shortage throughout the year. Minister for planning and coordination Ananga Udaya Singhdeo is personallymonitoring the proposed scheme.

The new project would make provisions for drawing water from Tel river, 30km from Balangir.

The project includes creation of underground water reservoirs and overhead water tanks in several localities of the town including Hatpadapada and Malpada.

Bhakta Kavi Das, executive engineer of Balangir PHD division, said that the project, which was estimated to cost Rs 55 crore, would help solve water problems of the town. “Since water will be drawn from the perennial river Tel unlike Mahanadi, there will be no scarcity of water even in the summer months,” Das said.

Das said that the project would take at least three years to complete. “Ductile iron pipe will be used instead of concrete ones which will minimise leakage. In the second stage of the project, five overhead tanks will be constructed for better distribution of water in the town,” he said.

“At present, about 10 manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) water is supplied to the town which is sufficient. But the distribution is unequal as some areas don’t have enough pipe connections,” he added.

According to government sources, 9.62 MLD water is supplied to the town. Only 3,527 households have been connected to the supply network.

The town has an additional 298 public taps and 427 government tube wells. PHD officials maintain that with a supply capacity of 9.62 MLD, it is able to provide 100 litres per capita per day (LPCD) to its consumers.

However, local residents disagreed with the authorities’ claims. “Pipe water comes once or twice in a week and that too for just an hour or so. They don’t stick to a fixed time for a particular area,” Sarat Mishra, a local resident said.

At presently, pipe water is being supplied to the town from Mahanadi near Sonepur, 50km from Balangir.

Pramod Mishra of the United Action Committee, a local organisation, said that the new project would not solve the drinking water problem as it is no different from the existing project.

“Efforts should be made to revive the old pond system,” Mishra said.