Sonepur: A proposed mega drinking water project worth Rs 199.77 crore under Basudha yojana has brought cheers to the denizens of Dunguripali and Binika blocks in Subarnapur district.
The project aims to cater pure and safe drinking water for 71 villages of 26 panchayats under Dunguripali block and 48 villages of nine panchayats under Binika block, sources said.
According to sources, the project will resolve drinking water crisis in this region, benefitting about 1,59,790 villagers of these two blocks. It is known that, 24 million litres of water will be lifted from the Mahanadi daily which will be purified and supplied to nearby villages.
The mega project is to be constructed at Manigaon village of Sindurapur panchayat under Binika block and 29 overhead tanks with individual capacity of two to three gallons of water each will be constructed at different places in these blocks. Pipelines of 700 km-long will be laid in the region to facilitate drinking water supply, sources added.
Several small drinking water projects that operate here will also receive water from the mega project. The contract firm has signed an agreement with the state water resource department to start construction of the mega project soon and complete the work within 36 months.
Reacting to this, Subarnapur Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) division executive engineer Bipin Bihari Dash said, “The population of this district is about 5,42,000. Till date, we are able to supply pure drinking water to 52% villages and 5.14% families of the district through pipelines”. The proposed project will enable us to cater for pure drinking water needs of over 70% villages, he added.