Cuttack, May 26: Excessive heat in the city has brought into focus the need for jala chatras, or roadside kiosks that provide drinking water to people from earthen pots.
The high court has directed the Cuttack Municipal Corporation to take steps to ensure provision of drinking water for commuters through jala chatras.
Earlier, during the summer months, the corporation used to set up more than a hundred jala chatras on the roadsides. But it stopped the initiative in 2015.
Sources said it was discontinued after the audit wing raised objections to unaccounted expenditure of Rs 12 to 14 lakh a year for setting up the kiosks. Besides, most of these kiosks ended up as mere advertisement platforms for the civic body as they went dry without within a week of their inauguration due to lack of volunteers.
Chairman of the civic body's standing committee for health Ranjan Kumar Biswal said: "We urged the Public Health Engineering Organisation (Pheo) to set up at least two plastic tanks in each of the 59 wards during summer."
"This year, Pheo has set up 130 plastic tanks of 1,000 to 1,500-litre capacity in all the wards," Biswal said.
However, not everyone is happy with the plastic tank option. " Jala chatras are essential to provide water to commuters in addition to the tanks," said Cuttack Mahanagar Shanti Committee secretary Bhikari Das.
Lawyer Ajay Mohanty raised the issue before the vacation bench of the high court through a PIL on Wednesday. In his petition, Mohanty said the plastic tanks were no alternative to the jala chatras.
Almost all the plastic tanks have been set up in the interior areas of the wards close to slums far from the main roads and are not within the reach of daily commuters. Besides, no steps have been taken to ensure that water in the plastic tanks remains cool. The tanks are left directly exposed to the sun without protective sheds, the petition said.
Consequently, the vacation court directed the municipal corporation to take steps to ensure provision of drinking water through jala chatras.
Biswal said: "For additional safe drinking water supply, this year we have allowed puja committees and private organisations to set up water kiosks at their own cost in their respective localities."
"But taking permission from the municipal authority to set up a kiosk has been made mandatory considering the jaundice outbreak at various parts of the city. "Permissions for opening 15 jala chatras has been given so far. We expect more puja committees and social service organisation to come forward for the initiative," Biswal said.
At Ganesh Ghat, local resident Jagannath Samal makes it a point to provide water. "On behalf of the Tinath Mandir here, I have placed earthen pots, which I fill 12 times a day. I feel a sense of contentment quenching the thirst of commuters," said Samal.
