Drinking Water Project Hanging Fire For 4 Years As Cholera Plays Havoc Lives In Odisha’s Rayagada

Rayagada: Even as 13 lives have been lost due to consumption of polluted water, a mega drinking water project has been hanging fire in Kasipur block of Odisha’s Raygada district since 2018.

The state Cabinet had approved Rs 338.83 crore for the project in the block for 2018-19 financial year. The fund included Rs 298.69 crore for the main project and Rs 40 crore for ancillary works. The project, which as to be taken up under Water Livelihoods Mission of the state government, was targeted to be completed in November, 2023.

Under the project, water from river Indravati in Nabarangpur would have been brought through pipes covering around 1,000 km passing through Ladigura and K Panjara villages to Dangasil in Kasipur. The water was planned to be stored in 5 huge tanks in Dangasil for purification and then supplied to villages.

It would have supplied drinking water to 90% population of the block. Besides covering 425 villages under 24 panchayats of Kasipur, the people of 49 villages under panchayats of Rayagada block would have benefited from the project.

The government had signed an agreement with a contractor for executing the project last year. But there has been no major progress in the project so far. The contractor has only dumped the pipes on the road side, but no work has been started on construction of the storage tanks at Dangasil nor pumping house set up near Indravati.

When contacted, Chitta Ranjan Jena, superintending engineer, Rural Water Supply department said the survey work for the project has been completed. “Since it is a major project covering a long distance, necessary technical aspects are being looked into. The works are going on and we expect to complete it soon,” he said.

It may be noted that at least 13 persons have succumbed after cholera spread in Kasipur last month. The government has admitted that the disease spread due to consumption of polluted water from natural sources like tanks and rivulets.