Sambalpur: In a significant step towards addressing the long-standing drinking water crisis in western Odisha, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday laid the foundation stone for a mega water supply project worth Rs 451.24 crore in Sambalpur city.
The initiative aims to provide round-the-clock (24×7) safe and purified drinking water directly to households across the city, benefiting approximately 5 lakh people across 41 wards. “This ambitious project will not only solve the drinking water problems but also bring a qualitative improvement in the standard of living for Sambalpur residents,” said Chief Minister Majhi in a statement.
According to a CMO release, the project, part of the central government’s ‘Amrit 2.0’ mission under the ‘Drink from Tap’ scheme, includes construction of one intake well and two state-of-the-art water treatment plants—one with a capacity of 65 million litres per day (MLD) in Sambalpur and another of 35 MLD in the neighbouring Burla town. A 340-km-long pipeline network will be laid across the city to ensure seamless distribution of treated water directly to households, eliminating the need for additional filtration.
Once completed, the project is expected to supply 100 million litres of safe drinking water daily, effectively resolving the current summer shortage of around 30 million litres per day in the region.
The foundation-laying ceremony was attended by Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Minister Rabi Narayan Naik, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari, Sambalpur MLA Jaynarayan Mishra, former MLA Nauri Naik, and Sambalpur Collector Siddheswar Baliram Bondar.
