Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Tuesday launched a statewide initiative called ‘Sujal’-Drink from Tap to provide 24*7, drinking water in the urban areas of the state.
Under the mission, more than 1.5 million people in the urban areas across the state will be facilitated with quality drinking water for the whole day.
Patnaik said“The initiative will be executed in a phased-manner in other districts across the State. Drinking water is a key element for a healthy living. In many advanced countries, people use water directly from the tap as it is safe and pure”.
In the first phase, 1.8 lakh people of Puri and Bhubaneswar will be provided with the drinking water facility.
Patnaik also said that by March 2022 households in all urban areas will have piped drinking water connections.
However, the 24*7 drinking water mission in the first phase will be executed across 15 cities of Odisha including Bhubaneswar, Rourkela, Puri, Gopalpur, Digapahandi, and Kashinagar. The State government will spend approximately Rs 1300 crore for the project.
The initiative also features a 24×7 helpline centre with IVRS for grievance redressal and quick response team for rapid redressal of water supply compliance.
PNN