Drinking Water from Reservoir

Water projects hang fire in Berhampur
Sisir Panigrahy Express News Service
First Published : 26 Oct 2010 07:59:22 AM ISTLast Updated : 26 Oct 2010 12:37:51 PM IST
BERHAMPUR: To address the drinking water crisis in the Silk City, the State government has now decided to bring water from Janibili reservoir in Soroda. Though water from Soroda reservoir comes to Dakhinpur reservoir for daily supply to the city, the water is supplied through open canals due to which, 80 per cent of water goes waste.
Keeping this in view, the government has decided to bring water through pipes from Soroda reservoir. A project at the cost of Rs 250 crore has been prepared and survey work has also been completed for it. The work, however, is yet to begin although the decision was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here last month.
Several plans like this have been chalked out in the last three decades to address the drinking water crisis in Berhampur, yet none has materialised so far.
A case in point is the Ghatakeswar project which can be an immediate solution for the water crisis and irrigate hundreds of acres of agricultural land in Chikiti area.
Senior Congress leader Chitaranjan Dash said the Ghatakeswar project was planned during 1982 but it was limited to files till 2007 when the Government approached Nabard for financial aid.
The Nabard, accordingly, sanctioned Rs 29 crore for the project. The government, however, is yet to take measures to rehabilitate families which would be affected by the proposed project.
Apart from government land, eight acres of private land needs to be acquired and 41 families of Kankia, Sarakot and Koilikot villages evicted.
Meetings in this regard have been held umpteen times but no concrete measures have been taken till now.
Even the land identified to be exchanged for the land to be submerged by the project, could not be transferred from the Revenue to the Irrigation Department.
As a result, the Irrigation Department is unable to start the plantation work which is mandatory for forest and environment clearance.
Due to the delay, the project cost has risen to Rs 42 crore against the earlier estimate of Rs 29 crore.
Dash said the Janibili project is a welcome step but the government should also begin work on the Ghatakeswar project at the earliest for the benefit of people.