Pipe water project incomplete

PARADIP: With wells running dry and water tables depleting throughout the State, this is feared to be a dry summer. The impact is already being felt in Jagatsinghpur district. Many villages here are facing acute water shortage.To address the issue, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had laid foundation stone for a piped water supply project at Goda in 2003 with a deadline to complete it in a year. The project was estimated at Rs  4.58 crore and was to improve water supply to 40 villages of Goda, Gadharishpur, Janakadeipur and Padampur panchayats of Erasama block.Under the project, pipe water as of today is being supplied to villages of Goda and Janakeipur panchayats. Water does not reach all villages in Goda panchayat due to low voltage. And in some cases, leaking pipes result in wastage of water. Rest two panchayats are yet to be covered.Locals said laying of pipelines in Gadharishpur and Padampur panchayats is yet to be completed. Ward members in the area - Susant Mandal, Satrughan Mandal, Pabitra Das, Pratap Samant and Dillip Das - have raised the issue at government forums several times in the past, but in vain.They said women have to tread two to three km to fetch potable water. Often, villagers consume water from the same ponds that they use for washing and bathing.Tubewells in many villages of the four panchayats have been rendered defunct due to alleged lack of maintenance and repair by the RWSS Department.Even after the district administration had directed all the block authorities to sink tubewells in villages facing water crisis, it is yet to be adhered to by the authorities.Paradip ADM Surjeet Das said 10 to 15 villages in Balikuda and Erasama are facing drinking water crisis. “We have directed the officials concerned to provide water to all the affected villages through tankers,” Das said.CLASH OVER WATER:A clash ensued between a group of villagers of Bhajakhia village under Goda panchayat over a woman taking bath in a pond. Apparently, villagers consume water of this pond in the wake of water shortage  and everyone in the village had been directed not to bathe in it.When the woman, Janaki Hazara, was found bathing in the pond on Wednesday, some villagers protested and asked her to leave the place.An irate Hazara left only to return with some of her relatives and neighbours and soon a clash ensued. While no one was injured, a case have been registered at Erasama police station.