A man collects water from a tubewell in Sambalpur

Sambalpur, April 2: The public health engineering organisation will hire at least eight water tankers to provide water to many areas of the city to deal with drinking water crisis here during summer.

The department has written to the district collector seeking permission to float a tender for the purpose. “The department has only four water tankers, which will be insufficient in providing water to all the scarcity zones in the city. We will have to hire more water tankers. A tender will be floated regarding this,” said sub-divisional officer of the organisation A.K. Satpathy.

Satpathy said the tender could not be floated now in view of the model code of conduct, which was in force now.

“However, we have written to the district collector, who is also the district election officer, to allow us to float a tender for the purpose,” he said.

The tankers will be pressed into service to provide water to the slum areas and to those localities, which are yet to be provided with the pipe water supply, said Satpathy.

But, official sources said Sambalpur did not have water scarcity. The problem here lies in distribution of water. The city requires 28 million litres per day (MLD).

The capacity of the existing water treatment plant located at Bareipali is 42MLD. But, as the city has expanded considerably, the places, which are located at a distance, often suffer from water problem because of lack of pressure.

Sufficient water does not reach places on the city outskirts. Moreover, several new residential areas have also been developed in the city, which are yet to get the pipe water.

“Several places, which are located on the city outskirts, do not get adequate water during the summer. Some parts of Kulthkani, Bhatra, Sunapali, Sakhipara and Talbhatapara face severe water problem during summer,” said local resident Santosh Naik.

“Every year, the organisation engages water tankers, which, however, fail to meet the requirements of several parts in the city. The concerned department should engage sufficient number of water tankers this year, so that people will not have to face the problem,” said another local resident Jugal Sahu.