Bhubaneswar, May 13: The heat wave sweeping across the state has prompted the state government to take stock of the drinking water supply situation.

Reviewing the situation yesterday, chief minister Naveen Patnaik asked urban development minister Niranjan Pujari and panchayati raj and rural drinking water supply minister Pradeep Maharathy to make regular field visits and take immediate remedial steps in the areas hit by water scarcity.

"My government is attaching priority to the drinking water supply programme," said Naveen.

The chief minister directed the officials to make provisions for 100 per cent piped water supply in 112 urban local bodies on war footing. At present, 79 per cent people in the urban areas are getting piped water. It was decided that 222 new projects would be taken up in urban areas for an estimated Rs 642 crore. Incomplete and ongoing projects would be completed within a year. Besides, provisions will be made for a central helpline and an emergency toll-free number.

Steps will be taken to receive public grievances through mobile phones. besides, name and telephone numbers of junior engineers will be displayed in panchayat offices for people to contact them directly and apprise them of the problem. About one per cent of 4.39 lakh-odd tube wells are lying defunct. Repair of 463 defunct piped water supply projects are also going on. Out of 6,211 gram panchayats, 5,668 have been provided with piped water supply connections.

On February 24, Naveen directed officials to complete maintenance of drinking water projects by March 31. The extension officers were assigned to monitor water supply in every panchayat and asked to submit the report to block development offic-ers."Our government is working towards providing 135 litres water per person per day and piped water supply connections to all urban households, including the slums," Naveen had said earlier.

The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation schemes are also underway in nine urban local bodies with more than one lakh population each. These are municipal corporations of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Rourkela and Sambalpur and the municipalities in Puri, Baripada, Balasore and Bhadrak.