Cuttack, June 30: Orissa High Court today set a five-day deadline for the state government to file a consolidated status report on supply of pure drinking water to the 8,000 anganwadi centres devoid of the facility.

The court set the deadline after the Orissa government had failed to provide any information on the progress made in providing the facility to such centres since May 13.

The high court is monitoring provision of drinking water facilities at anganwadi centres in Orissa while adjudicating a PIL on implementation of the special nutrition programme (SNP) and mid-day meal (MDM) programme.

“Today advocate general Ashok Mohanty expressed inability to file a status report as directed on May 13.

Taking note of it, the division bench of Chief Justice V. Gopal Gowda and Justice B.N. Mohapatra allowed time till July 5,” advocate-petitioner D.K. Mohapatra told The Telegraph.

“The undisputed fact is that drinking water facility is not provided to children in many anganwadi centres in Orissa. It was brought to our notice in this PIL. Therefore, we gave direction to provide drinking water to children of the centres. However, the directions issued by us have not been complied with fully by the Orissa government and its officers,” the court regretted in its order. The Orissa government admitted in an affidavit that a total of 8,050 anganwadi centres did not have drinking water facility within 250 metres.

Principal secretary of the rural development department Surendra Nath Tripathy, in the affidavit filed on May 10, stated that the chief engineer of the rural water supply had prepared a detail action plan to provide drinking water facilities to all the 8,050 centres (2,776 on government premises and 5,274 in private accommodation) by the end of December 2011 and work had already been taken up on a war footing.

However, efforts were being undertaken to complete installation of tube wells in at least 2,000 centres functioning on government premises by June 30, giving particular priority to tribal and drought-prone areas, the affidavit stated. The court, however, had skirted the Orissa government’s plea seeking time till December 31 and directed on May 13 for “drawing revised plan to drill the tube wells in almost all the centres” by June end.

“Moreover, it is directed that the collectors must submit weekly status reports to the principal secretary of the rural development department with regard to the work they have undertaken in implementing this court direction. If any collector fails in this regard, we direct the disciplinary authority to take necessary action against him,” the order stated.