Baripada: The Jambhira project was mooted years ago with the sole objective of ensuring drinking water to residents here.
However, the project did not make any headway so far. Even as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik visited Baripada Wednesday and laid the foundation stone for projects involving crores of rupees, residents expressed resentment as similar other projects were still hanging fire for years.
According to sources, it was the Chief Minister himself who had laid the foundation of the project seven years back. But, the project worth Rs 83.91 crore, aimed at meeting the water needs of more than two lakh people is yet to take off.
As per the project plan, water would be drawn from river Jambhira and distributed across the town. The land needed for the project has been demarcated and the report prepared. At least 2.15 acre at Purnachandrapur was earmarked for the purpose and layout finalised for construction of pump house and water tanks.
The population of Baripada town, as per 2011 census, is 1,09,743 and the demand of water is around 18.22 MLD of which 14.8 MLD is supplied by PHED. Though PHED has been supplying drinking water to 28 wards through pipe lines, several locations like Purnachandrapur, Debendrapur, Prafullanagar, Station Bazaar, Narpada and Sungadia have been deprived of the facility. Irregular water supply to these wards has led to resentment among residents.
PHED chief executive engineer Bighneswar Pani said a private agency, Megha Infrastructure Engineering Limited, has started work for Jambhira drinking water project.
He said 16.77 MLD drinking water per day is being supplied across the town against the requirement of 18.86 MLD. “We hope around 0.6 MLD (6 lakh litre) drinking water will be supplied across the town by March this year,” he said. Pani said the project is in the final stages of construction.
PNN