The residents of Uniskhand Mouja comprising 19 villages under lakhanpur block in Brajrajnagar constituency are facing a severe shortage of water this summer despite being at stone’s throw from the Hirakund Dam.
Recenty, the villagers of Kandheikela expressed their grievance in a public hearing of the district Collector at lakhanpur. Water shortage has been a longstanding issue for the residents of the region.
local sources say that 5,000 residents of Kandheikela panchayat under lakhanpur block, 4,604 residents of Charpali panchayat, 4,104 residents of Pithinda panchayat, 5,033 residents of Remta panchayat, 3,874 residents of Kanaktora and 3,085 residents of Badimal are facing acute difficulty in sourcing drinking water.
The problem worsens further when most deep bore wells stop functioning due to low voltage. Due to scorching heat the water level of these six panchayats has gone down drastically as ponds have also dried up in the vicinity.
The State Government had planned to set up a water supply centre near the Hirakund reservoir, Mahulapali at a cost of Rs 84 crore to supply water to these six panchayats through pipe line. But, the project seems to have hit bureaucratic hurdles. In some areas, people are bound to drink contaminated water from small wells to meet their daily requirements.
The villagers exhibited dirty water in bottles to the district Collector during the meeting. However, Wesco said that low voltage problem will be solved after a 33/11 KV sub station which is under construction at Dhulunda becomes operational.
District Collector Bibhuti Bhusan Patnaik said, “All arrangements are being made to supply drinking water to the general public and the problem of Uniskhand Mouja will soon be sorted out.”