Paradip, May 24: The port town and its nearby areas are reeling from shortage of drinking water at a time when the mercury is hovering above 40°C.
"The situation has occurred because of a fall of water level in Taladanda canal, from where water is being drawn for supply. The situation will improve once the water level rises," said an executive engineer at the public health engineering department (environment and civil), Gangadhar Sethy.
"We have requested the water resources department to increase the flow of water in the canal to meet the drinking water demand," said Sethy.
"Besides the canal, the water levels of three reservoirs in the town have also dropped drastically. Against the daily requirement of 3 million gallon litres of drinking water, only 2 million-gallon litres are being supplied," he added.
Several localities are facing water shortage. The public health engineering department (PHED) depends on the canal to meet the requirement of drinking water.
An official said the port authorities had inked an agreement with the water resources department to draw water from the canal against an annual water cess.
To make things worse, the water supply pipes have developed cracks at various places resulting in the wastage of a lot of water. The water supply is erratic and whatever is being supplied to the local residents is muddy and unfit for human consumption.
If the situation is bad in the town, it is worse in the slums on the outskirts.
Slum clusters such as Badapadia, Nua Bazaar, Nehru Bangala, Bangalipada, Sandhakuda, Lockpada are not covered under the PHED's piped water supply scheme. With the dip in groundwater level, the tube wells have gone dry. Water tankers pressed in by the municipal authorities are the sole sources of drinking water for over 75,000 slum dwellers, which comprise the principal source of human resource for the town.
"Fall in the Taladanda canal water level happens every year. The PHED should have been alert and initiated pre-emptive measures to avert the water crisis," said port dockworkers' union president Pravat Kumar Samantaray.
