Cuttack, May 22: The Public Health Engineering Organisation (Pheo) has stepped up supply of drinking water through tankers to various parts of the city in view of the scorching heat.
Pheo officials said additional tankers had been pressed into service following a fall in the water level and consequent decrease in flow of piped water supply across the city.
The Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) had chalked out a summer plan that includes placing plastic tanks in areas where pipe water supply do not reach, sending water tankers to meet demand in these places and ensuring functioning of all tube wells and cold water supply units across the city.
"As part of the summer plan, we had asked the Pheo to provide two water tanks in each of the 59 wards and to repair all defunct cold water units," said Ranjan Kumar Biswal, chairman of the CMC's standing committee for water supply, public health and sanitation.
Every day, the Pheo supplies around 102 million litres of drinking water drawn from various production wells through the pipe water system. While 44 of the 59 wards get pipe water supply, the rest are partially covered.
"We had aimed to supply two plastic tanks in each of the 59 wards. We have already placed plastic tanks in 130 locations covering all the wards. An additional plastic tank has been placed at locations wards where water shortage due to decrease in flow of pipe water was detected," Pheo (Cuttack Division) executive engineer Sushant Ghadei told The Telegraph today.
"If necessary, we will place more plastic tanks where the demand for water is more," he added. Each plastic tanker has a capacity of 1,000-1,500 litres. All the water tanks have been placed in consultation with the local councillors.
Under normal conditions, in addition to pipe water the Pheo's Cuttack division deploys seven tankers to supply drinking water in various parts of the city.
"But in view of the prevailing situation, we have hired 15 more tankers each with a capacity of 4,000 litres. Of them, 12 have already been pressed into service and the remaining three are on stand by," Ghadei said.
As part of the summer action plan, the Pheo had undertaken a survey of cold water outlets across the city. Most of them were set up with MPLAD and MLALAD funds. Of the around 39 such water outlets, 16 were found to be defunct. Nine of them could be recharged and made functional, but the remaining seven units need to be replaced.
"Replacement of machines in the seven cold water units has not been possible as sanction of funds by the department is necessary. But new cold water units have been installed at 12 locations across the city with MPLAD funds," Ghadei said.
"Six new cold water units will be installed with MPLAD funds within a fortnight," he added.
Pheo officials claimed all the 628 tube wells with hand pumps spread over 59 wards were functional.
Pheo officials conceded that they had received complaints about slow down in pipe water supply in certain areas of Arunodaya Nagar. "We have to depend on tube wells with hand pump due to decrease in flow of pipe water supply in our area," said Avinash Behera, a resident of the locality. Another resident Sidhartha Das echoed Behera.
Pheo officials said pipelines did not have full pressure due to fall in yield level of the production well at Arunodaya. Hence, the slowdown in pipe water supply. Work is on to come up with an additional production well to ensure required pressure in the pipelines. In the interim, regular drinking water supply is being ensured in the area through water tankers, the officials said.
