Bhubaneswar, May 12: Two years on, civic body's ambitious water ATM project has failed to see the light of the day even this summer. The delay has pushed the project cost up.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation had proposed in 2014 to install modern water dispensing units called water ATMs. It had also proposed to provide smart cards to people that could be swiped to draw water from these machines. The civic body had submitted a detailed project report to the state housing and urban development department seeking financial assistance for the scheme.

In view of the sizzling summer, the corporation tried to expedite the work and approved the setting up of 40 water ATMs in different parts of the city in its February's council meeting. It had earmarked Rs 2 crore for the project in its 2016-17 budget. However, a senior civic body official said that though the tender had been finalised, the bidder had increased the cost to more than Rs 4.75 crore following the delay of two years.

"After the revision, the cost of the project now stands at Rs 4,75,92,148. We have communicated to the housing and urban development department for sanctioning the project at the revised cost. However, we are yet to get a response from the department," said the official.

"The summer is at its peak, but we are still waiting for the corporation to install those machines. The authorities have set up water kiosks, but we don't know if the water is safe. It is also not cold," said Bikash Nayak, a resident.

According to the project proposal, the civic body had decided to purify the water in three stages -micro-filtration through carbon particles, a layer of membrane filtration (RO) and one layer of UV purification. Citizens will get cold drinking water from the modern dispensing units.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said the modern water dispensing units would provide safe drinking water to the public. "We have already identified the places to install the units. This is a first of its kind project in the city. Then it will be implemented in other places of the state as well," said Jena.

Resident Kanan Mohapatra said that the administration should expedite the work on installing the water ATMs.

"Parts of the city were recently hit by jaundice and diarrhoea. The administration should ensure safe drinking water to the citizens. The water ATMs should be installed immediately," said Mohapatra.