A dry well at Sundarpada and (above) an overhead water reservoir at Badagada Brit Colony in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture and picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, May 30: Water scarcity, which was earlier a phenomenon limited to only Sundarpada and Bhimatangi areas of the city during summer, has now also hit low-lying areas such as Badagada, Chintamaniswar and Laxmi Sagar.

“At Chintamaniswar, the open wells never dried up before. But now, they dry up very fast. Areas such as Sabar Sahi are also suffering from water scarcity. Tube wells too are not yielding any water,’’ said Amaresh Jena, councillor of ward No. 49.

Water scarcity has also hit Badagada village and Badagada Brit Colony. While open wells no longer have enough water, defunct tubewells are also of no use as the normal piped-water supply by the Public Health Engineering Organisation (PHEO) has been hit by inadequate supply because of a series of power cuts in the capital.

“Though the PHEO had assured us of proper water supply, low-voltage electricity and severe power cuts have hindered supply here,’’ said Ashwini Kumar Rout, secretary of the Brit Colony Development Association.

“Houses in the colonies meant for low-income groups and middle-income groups and colonies near Bhaskareswar temple are most severely hit by the water crisis. But, the problem is present in almost all localities of Brit Colony,” said councillor Ashok Kumar Singh

He also said five tankers from the PHEO were pressed into action to supply drinking water in the area every day.

Sundarpada residents too are suffering from water crisis as the Daya West Canal is now lying defunct. “Earlier, the canal used to carry clean water from one end of the city to our ward, but as the authorities had decided to transform the wide canal to two roads on both the sides with a small channel within, water supply from the canal is no longer possible. The area is facing severe water scarcity this year,” said Krushna Chandra Sethi, councillor of ward No. 57.

“The PHEO and the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation are respectively supplying five and three tankers of drinking water to the area every day. The water is stored in 12 small plastic tanks so that people can collect their share,’’ he added.

Regarding the pipeline coming from the Pokhariput-end to Sundarpada, Sethi said while the place was marked for construction of a reservoir, some people had encroached on a portion of the land. He said the survey would start as soon as the problem was solved.

The residents of Badabari, Jagamara, Krishna Garden and Subhadra Villa are also reeling from an acute shortage of drinking water. While the area is partially covered by piped water supply, those who depend on groundwater are complaining about the high iron content.

“The PHEO should ensure adequate supply of piped water,” said Sampad Mohapatra, a resident of Jagamara.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said: “For the first time, the PHEO has briefed the municipal council this year with its annual plan. We have also assured Rs 2 lakh for each ward so that the common stand posts can be developed to supply water. In most of the uncovered areas, the PHEO and the corporation are supplying more than 60 water tankers every day.’’