Bhubaneswar: Over 28,000 villages in Odisha are yet to get piped water supply, Drinking Water Minister Pradip Kumar Amat told the assembly Tuesday.
Replying to a written question by Congress MLA Narasingha Mishra, he said piped water connections have been provided to 19,131 of the total 47,274 villages in the state till September 22
Amat said work is underway to provide piped water supply to the remaining 28,143 villages, which is around 60 per cent of the total villages in the state.
The Mayurbhanj district, which has a significant tribal population, has the highest number of villages, 2,727, that are yet to get the water connections. Of the 3,720 villages in the district, piped water supply has been provided to 993 villages so far, the minister said.
Mayurbhanj is followed by Kandhamal, where only 100 out of 2,367 villages have got piped water supply, he said.
The state government has spent a total of Rs 23,286 crore for the project in the last 10 years, 2013-14 to 2022-23, Amat said.
The government spent Rs 441.73 crore for the project in 2013-14, which went up to Rs 5,913.76 crore in the last financial year, he said.
PTI