The site reserved for the water treatment plant in Burla. Telegraph picture

Sambalpur, June 8: The nagging water problem of Burla town is expected to be over soon as the state government has approved setting up of a water treatment plant.

“Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) will provide fund for the project. In 2006, the central public sector company had agreed to fund the project. At that time, the project cost was Rs 5.62 crore, which has now escalated to Rs 8.62 crore. The MCL has already released Rs 3.5 crore in the first phase for the project,” said executive engineer of the public health and engineering department Hadibandhu Behera.

“The government has accorded the administrative approval to the project. Now, the technical approval is awaited. Once that is obtained, we will invite tenders,” said Behera.

With the inception of the project, water would be drawn directly from the Hirakud reservoir and supplied to the households, he said.

The plant will have a capacity to filter six million litres of water a day. Moreover, the existing 4.5 million litre-plant would also be upgraded, said the executive engineer, adding that work for the new water treatment plant was expected to be over in two years.

“Land has been identified for the plant. As the state government has already approved the project, the work will begin very soon,” said Rajesh Tamang, executive officer of the Burla Notified Area Council.

Residents are happy over the government approval. “The new water treatment plant will fulfil the long-standing demand of the residents,” said Laxmi Mohanty, a social activist.

“The population in the town has increased considerably. The proposed water treatment plant will solve the town’s water problem. The authorities should expedite the work and complete the project as soon as possible,” said Dhananjaya Satpathy, a local resident.