Sambalpur, June 30: A water treatment plant, which was planned to solve water crisis of Burla town here, has remained a non-starter.

The water treatment plant, with a capacity of six million litres per day, was estimated at a cost of Rs 8.62 crore. The Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) had announced in 2006 that it would fund the project.

In the first phase, the MCL had released Rs 3.5 crore for the project. A 7.62 acre plot was also identified for the treatment plant following approval of the state government.

But the public health and engineering department, which has been entrusted with the work, is yet to start constructing the plant.

The present water treatment plant, which has a capacity of 4.5 million litres per day, fails to fulfil the water demands of Burla. The town has a medical college and hospital and an engineering college among its major institutions.

Several parts of the town experience water scarcity during summer. Experts said that if it came up, the water treatment plant would have solved the town’s water woes for at least the next three decades.

Another resident, Katesh, said: “The concerned department should expedite the process and start the work of the plant without any delay.”

The sub-divisional officer of the public health and engineering department, Bhagyadhara Sahu, said: “A tender to set up the water treatment plant has been invited. However, the work order for the project is yet to be issued. The work will start following issuance of the work order.”