A barrage on Mahanadi at Naraj from where Cuttack is supposed to get 100 million litres of water on a daily basis. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, April 11: Work will start soon on the Rs 324-crore water supply augmentation plan to provide additional 100 million litres of piped water per day to the Silver City.

The plan, drawn up by the Public Health Department (PHD), envisages extending of water supply to all the 54 wards of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) area.

The existing water distribution network has a capacity to cater to around 3.2 lakh population, while the population of the city had swelled to over seven lakh. Water supply distribution network is yet to be extended to 16 of the 54 wards of the CMC.

Arun Nayak, the executive engineer of PHD (Cuttack), today informed The Telegraph that process for preparation of a detailed project report (DPR) in this regard has already started.

“Bids for preparation of the DPR within three months had been received and forwarded to the government last week for finalisation and approval of the tender process,” he said, adding, “Implementation of the project by the Orissa Water Supply and Sewerage Board would follow on after preparation of the DPR.”

Nayak said the present official status of water distribution system indicates supply of 115 million litres per day from 116 production wells and 113 hand pump tube wells.

“The idea of the project is to erect 25 overhead reservoirs and draw water from the Mahanadi and Kathajodi rivers along with establishing a water treatment plant over a 15-acre area at Naraj for water supply of another 100 million litres per day (MLD), in addition to the 115 MLD being supplied now,” he said.

Piped water still remains inaccessible for people of many neighbourhoods of the city, PHD officials said, conceding that over four lakh people do not have access to piped water supply as lines had been laid out for around 26,000 house connections and 2,180 stand posts on the streets.

“We have been waiting for over a year now for completion of construction work on a boring-well point by PHD for supply of piped water,” said Sukadev Samal (50), a resident of Subhadrapur in ward No 52.

“Hardly five per cent of the people have access to piped water in my ward, which has a population of around 30,000. The PHD, which had been able to come up with a boring-well point at Gopalpur, supplies to around 60 consumers,” said Pradip Behera, councillor of ward No. 52.

An official survey had indicated that more than 25 per cent of the 115 MLD water supply gets wasted because of leakage. For many, piped water supply is sporadic owing to faulty and often outdated distribution network.

The executive engineer of PHD (Cuttack) said: “Work is underway to change old lines and extend the distribution network by laying of new lines in areas deprived of piped water to facilitate implementation of the water supply augmentation plan.”

The survey had indicated rampant illegal tapping, which added to the woes of those with service connections at the end of the distribution line. “We have plans to introduce water meters in houses with service connections,” the PHD official said. Water cess would be charged according to the number of connections, he added.