Balangir, Sept. 7: Residents of Balangir are facing one of the worst water crises in recent times. Pipe water supply has been completely cut-off in Balangir for the past seven days.
Public health and engineering department (PHED) sources said that a 350-horse power (hp) motor pump at Nandalmal near Sonepur, from where water is drawn from the Mahanadi, has broken down resulting in the disruption of water supply. The motor pump has reportedly been sent to Bhubaneswar for repairs.
People are having a hard time without potable water for a week now. Local residents said they didn’t get pipe water even on the day of Nuakhai, a famous festival of the region.
Rashmita Tripathy, a homemaker, said during Nuakhai all members of her family had gathered at her house for the auspicious occasion.
“All our relatives and family members had come to celebrate Nuakhai with us. But due to lack of proper water supply, we had to face a lot of inconvenience. We had to bring potable water from a neighbour for Nuakhai. Water supply has not been restored yet,” she said.
Pawan Sahu, another local resident, said incessant rainfall over the last few days made matter worse. “Although all the water bodies in the town are full, the water is not suitable for use. It has become a habit of the PHED personnel to supply water once in every three or four days. We had got pipe water on the last day of August. Since then there has been no supply,” said Sahu.
The town needs 6.6 million litres of water per day. But it can hold 9.5 million litres per day if the pump works for at least 18 hours a day.