Tale of two kiosks: While one quenches the thirst of commuters, the other remains unmanned and dry in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, April 30: Water kiosks are easy to spot at many places in the city, but as student Sambit Parida experienced today they are nothing more than a mirage to thirsty commuters.

Parida, a student preparing for competitive examinations, saw at least three temporary water kiosks set up on the roadside between Bomikhal and the State Library, but none was manned.

As thirsty Parida went from one unmanned kiosk to another, he found that water was not available in the first two, while what he got at the third one was too hot to gulp.

“They have set up several such kiosks but of no use. If these temporary arrangements do not work properly then what’s the need of setting up them on the roadside? It seems the organisations have set up these kiosks to gain publicity,” said Parida, who was cycling to the State Library at Unit IV area from Bomikhal at around 2pm today. He had forgotten to bring along his water bottle and was desperate to have a cool drink.

Parida is not the only one. Most of these kiosks or jalachhatras can hardly justify their existence as they fail to offer a cool drink to commuters, who come looking for water in the gruelling sun.

Run by the municipal corporation, local and non-government organisations, the city has over 100 such jalachhatras across the city.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has planned to set up at least 100 such water kiosks at different places and of these only 47 have been set up in collaboration with NGOs and private parties.

With the temperature hovering above 40°C in the city and heatwave condition prevailing all across, the corporation’s slow response to provide water to people on the roads shows its callous attitude. Besides, the poor maintenance of some of these kiosks also causes more pain to the commuters who go to the jalachhatras and get no water.

The authorities should not only come up with more such kiosks, but also ensure supply of cold drinking water at these places.

“Earlier they were doing a good job in the city, but this time the BMC seems less concerned about the heatwave condition,” said Nrupesh Samant, a private company employee, whose job entails moving around in the sun.

A senior BMC official said that they had planned to set up 100 such kiosks. Fifty per cent of these have been built, but the rest would be in operation over next two weeks.

“We are planning to spend around Rs 1 lakh for setting up these kiosks. Lack of manpower creates problem in operating these jalachhatras and we are compelled to rope in private bodies, different associations and NGOs to run the service,” said BMC commissioner Krishan Kumar.

While the corporation provides the infrastructure and water, the other party deploys their men to manage these kiosks. All the seven tankers of the BMC have been deployed to provide water to these kiosks.

A jalachhatra set up near the VSS Nagar gate of Utkal University is managed by women and they said that they have been providing water throughout the day.

Several first-aid centres for sunstroke victims have also been opened by St. John Ambulance and Red Cross Society at different places.

The city police have also provided sunglasses, gloves, hats and caps to the traffic constable and havildars and homeguards manning traffic posts at various squares. However, the posts remain unoccupied during peak hours, as traffic cops take shelter under shades. The special relief commissioner today confirmed three sunstroke related deaths in the state, while around 27 suspected cases have come to their notice.

While Bhubaneswar sizzled at 42.2°C today, Talcher was the hottest in the state at 44.3°C.