Residents of Samadhi Patna line up to get water from a tubewell. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, March 24: The residents of Samadhi Patna near Jobra are facing severe scarcity of water, even as the authorities claim that steps are being taken to rectify the problem soon.

The residents allege that they have not been getting adequate water supply in the area for the past few years. The situation has become worse in the past few days as the residents claim that they have not received any water supply ever since Holi.

“The temperature in the city has increased considerably in the past few weeks. Lack of measures to ensure consistent water supply has started to affect our daily lives. The authorities are not taking any steps to solve our grievances,” said Bibhuti Swain (32), local resident.

“This area has been forced to run in this condition for the past few years. Though we have brought the matter to the notice of civic authorities time and again, all our pleas seem to have fallen on deaf ears,” said Basanti Patnaik (62), another local resident.

Swain said that the water pipelines were changed in 2008 after repeated complaints. However, because of lack of adequate measures for its maintenance, the supply of drinking water in the locality remained poor.

Around 500 families in Samadhi Patna area that falls under wards 34 and 35 of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) have to depend upon only two tubewells of the locality. The residents have to wait for long time to get water from the tubewells.

“Many residents have dug up boring inside their houses because of water scarcity. But the poor people cannot afford this. Hence, the authorities should find a permanent solution to the water supply problems of the residents here in the locality,” said Ranjan Kumar Pradhan (37), a businessman.

Councillor of ward No. 35 Sriram Pandey informed that steps are being taken to solve water crisis in the area.

“One of the motor pumps became defunct this morning. As a result, the residents faced problems in availing the water supply today. But, the motor pump which had got damaged would be repaired by evening, and normality in water supply will be restored,” said Pandey.

Moreover, there is a proposal to install a pump house near Bayababa Math, the tender process for which has already been completed. The scarcity of water in the ward would be solved as the new pump house gets operational, the councillor said. Moreover, there are proposals to change the old pipelines in the area.

Public health department (PHD) officials have, however, opined that there has been an increase in the water requirement because of the rise in the number of households in the area.