Cuttack, Oct. 18: The Orissa government today admitted in an affidavit filed in the high court that 290 anganwadi centres across the state still had no drinking water facilities within a distance of 250 metres.

The high court has been monitoring the provision of drinking water facilities at Orissa’s anganwadi centres while adjudicating on a PIL on implementation of Special Nutrition Programme and Mid Day Meal Programme.

On August 30, the state rural development department had claimed that drinking water facilities had been provided to 3,096 anganwadi centres.

The state women and child welfare department had also made similar claims.

Responding to allegations that drinking water was not available in most anganwadi centres, the high court had on March 8 directed the rural development department to see that bore wells were drilled on a war footing to ensure the supply of drinking water to all anganwadi centres. The court had repeated the order on May 13. The government was given a target of providing drinking water to 8,050 anganwadi centres.

But the state rural development department had claimed that only 3,454 anganwadi centres (1,492 of these functioning in various government buildings and 1,962 functioning in private buildings) lacked safe drinking water facilities within 250 metres. The department had also claimed that the problem of drinking water had been addressed at 3,096 anganwadi centres.

Orissa rural development department’s additional secretary Hemanta Kumar Dash today claimed in the affidavit that despite the rainy season and devastating flood in the state, safe drinking water had been provided to 68 of the remaining 358 anganwadi centres since August 30.

“The government is committed to execute the orders of the high court and will provide safe drinking water facilities to the remaining 290 anganwadi centres by the end of December 2011,” Dash said in his compliance report.