Kendrapada: Several villages in Kendrapada district are facing an acute drinking water crisis this summer as work on a Rs 241-crore mega drinking water supply project remains incomplete.The ambitious project, aimed at supplying potable water to salinity-hit coastal pockets of the district, is moving at a snail’s pace. “Former chief minister Naveen Patnaik had laid the foundation stone in 2018 with a promise to complete the work within four years. However, the project is yet to be completed, leaving a large number of villagers struggling for water,” Bijay Shukla, panchayat samiti member of Ramanagar, said.RWSS executive engineer Sujit Kumar Lugun said the project would cover 200 villages in Mahakalapada and Rajnagar blocks. “We are determined to complete the project this year and are repairing defunct tube wells,” he said.With mercury levels crossing 39°C, the district is already witnessing heatwave-like conditions, aggravating the drinking water crisis in summer. Residents fear the situation will worsen in the coming months.“Due to non-functioning tube wells in coastal pockets, villagers are forced to use contaminated water from ponds, rivers and other sources. The scarcity will multiply in the coming months,” Narahari Biswal of Chapali village in Mahakalapada block said.Many seaside villages continue to depend on tube well water, which is unsafe due to salinity, while several families walk miles to fetch fresh water from far-off villages.The crisis is equally severe in urban areas. With summer at its peak, large parts of Pattamundai and Kendrapada civic bodies are grappling with water shortage. All 20 wards of Pattamundai municipality, with a population of about 80,000, are facing acute scarcity. “Water supplied through municipal taps is mixed with sewage and cannot be used for cooking or bathing,” Amiya Rout of Mandapada locality claimed.Residents said contaminated drinking water in Pattamundai is largely due to faulty sewerage works, with loosened joints causing sewage to mix with supply lines. “The situation has become alarming, raising fears of an epidemic,” Maheswar Jena of Nimpur village said.Some wards of Kendrapada municipality have also faced water problems due to pipeline leakage, illegal motor connections and damage to pipelines during road repair works. “We are repairing all damaged pipelines on a war footing to ensure clean drinking water,” Kendrapada municipal chairperson Sarita Sahoo said.
