Berhampur, March 2: The state government has initiated steps to bring water from Janibili reservoir in Soroda, 55 km from here, to tackle the crisis of drinking water in the city.

“Bringing water from there is the only and the best option,” Deb Sundar Mahapatra, executive engineer of public health engineering department, said.

The government has decided to bring water through an underground pipeline from the reservoir. An additional 30 million litre water can be supplied to Berhampur through this project everyday.

The project would cost around Rs 250 crore. The Japanese Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) would provide the amount as loan on low interest. The rate of interest would be 0.75 percent per year, Mahapatra said.

A comprehensive project report has been prepared and the tender process has started in last February, said the executive engineer.

“We have planned to bring water from Janibili reservoir to Ankushpur reservoir by laying pipelines on a 55-kilometre stretch alongside the National Highway 217. Though water from Soroda reservoir comes to the existing Dakhinpur reservoir in the city, the water is supplied through open canals, for which 80 per cent of it gets wasted,” he said.

The city gets drinking water mainly from Rushikulya river and the century-old Dakhinpur reservoir.