Sambalpur, July 10: The residents of Old Town will have to wait for a few more months to get water directly from the Hirakud reservoir.

Water is supplied to Old Town from the water treatment plant at Modipara, which draws water from near the Balibadha ghat of the Mahanadi.

The decision to draw water from the Hirakud reservoir instead of the Mahanadi was taken following the outbreak of jaundice in the city in 2014. It was noticed then that Old Town was the worst affected by jaundice. The water in the Hirakud dam is cleaner than the river water downstream because a lot of industrial waste is dumped into the river in those areas.

It was decided that 4.46km of pipelines would be laid from Bareipali to the Modipara to ensure the water is not contaminated. This apart, it was also decided to renovate the water treatment plant. The estimated budget for the total work was Rs 7.31 crore.

The laying of pipelines from Baripali to Modipara area is nearly complete. However, renovation of the water treatment plant is yet to begin.

Sub-divisional officer of the Public Health Engineering Organisation Jadab Chandra Dehury said: "The water will be drawn from the Hirakud reservoir and supplied to the Old Town after renovation of the plant is complete."

"The water treatment plant at Modipara had a capacity to treat 11.25MLD when it was set up. However, the treatment capacity has now decreased to around 5MLD now. The plant will regain its original capacity after the renovation work," said Dehury.

"We have decided to begin renovation of the plant after the advent of winter when the demand of the water decreases. We will supply water from the water treatment plant once a day and start the renovation," said the official.

"Several parts of the city, which use water from the Modipara water treatment plant will benefit once water for the plant is drawn from Hirakud reservoir directly. But we have to wait some more months for this," said Santanu Naik, a local resident.