Bhubaneswar: The Odisha assembly on Tuesday witnessed a heated exchange between the ruling BJP and opposition BJD during Question Hour after panchayati raj and drinking water minister Rabi Narayan Naik blamed the previous BJD govt for slow pace of drinking water project works. Naik said the current govt had dug 26,000 tube wells within a year — the same number he claimed the previous administration created in 24 years — triggering protests from BJD members. Some BJP members tried to shout them down.The uproar briefly disrupted proceedings, prompting Speaker Surama Padhy to intervene and caution that she would be “forced to call them by names” if members continued to ignore the chair. The confrontation began when MLA Durga Prasan Nayak (BJP) sought a supplementary clarification on drinking water supply.Replying to a question from MLA Manoranjan Dyan Samantara (BJP), Naik said the govt is executing 207 mega drinking water projects across the state. Of these, 26 have been completed and another 28 are likely to be finished by the end of this month.Naik had earlier said the state has set a target to ensure safe drinking water supply for every household by March 2027.He informed the House that drinking water has already reached 68.47 lakh families, covering about 77% of households as of March 5. Of Odisha’s 44,531 villages, projects have become functional in 11,777. He also alleged that progress of several projects had slowed earlier due to faulty detailed project reports.Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallick raised concerns over rising cancer and kidney disease cases in Palatapur panchayat of Jajpur district, allegedly caused by contaminated tube well water. Naik assured that a team would visit the area, test water quality and submit a report. Congress legislature party leader Rama Chandra Kadam said the entire state has been facing drinking water issues.In response to a question by Sagar Charan Das (Congress), Naik said in a written reply that the govt is committed to ensuring safe and adequate drinking water to all rural households through schemes such as single village schemes, multi village schemes, solar-based schemes and mega piped water supply projects.He added that irregular supply, poor water quality and defunct schemes in certain gram panchayats were due to land acquisition hurdles, contractor non-performance, delays in right of way (ROW) clearances from departments such as NH, NHAI, forest and railways, along with power supply constraints and ageing infrastructure in some legacy schemes.To ensure timely completion and proper functioning of projects, the govt has taken corrective measures, including creation of institutional mechanisms for inter-departmental coordination, such as a committee headed by the development commissioner, he added.
