Believe it or not, the residents of Bhajakhia, Patua and Ghasua villages under Goda Panchayat in Erasama block have to skip bath in the ongoing summer due to water scarcity. And, more pertinently, water is so scare that it now sells at Rs 10 to Rs 15 per jerrycan there.
Thanks to negligence by the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation [RWSS] department, these days, a large number of villages in Erasama and Balikuda blocks are reeling under the water deficit as most of the tube wells have turned defunct and are yet to be repaired and a proposed pipe water supply project for the worst water scarce panchayats from Naradia is yet to be functioned. Moreover, the much touted water supply in tankers to the water shortage regions has been by and large sporadic, adding to the woes of the people, reports said.
The villages facing water crisis these days include Bhajakhia, Patuua, Suakunda, Ghasua, Patharkanda, Salio, Saharkanda, Kadalibari and Belari in Erasama block and Baramundali, Marchipur, Naharana, Anantapur and Kusapur panchayats under Balikuda areas.
The poor flow of water in the rivers, tributaries, besides the drying ponds, has deepened the water woes for residents in these areas.
People in certain areas travel upto5 to 7 km to fetch water for their drinking and domestic needs, informed former ZP member Bijaya Kumar Das from Naharana village.
A group of people have taken maximum opportunity of the ongoing water crisis and have started doing business seizing upon the plights of the locals. They get water from certain nearby areas in big drums, and other containers and sell it to the residents in affected areas, informed Pratap Sahoo, former Sarpanch of Goda.
A senior citizen from Bhajakhia village Ananta Pradhan said water crisis has been a regular summer feature in the areas since years, but this time, the situation seems to have worsened when yearly water supply by the RWSS Department has run into rough weather.
Ram Sethy, a resident Talagaon village, informed that women have to walk 4 km at Baramundali village to get water from a private owned well all the seasons. Paravati Mandal, a villager from Suakunda village also collects water from a private well after walking 5 km.
Well owner Balaram Das is a proud man as nearly 200 families fetch water from his well round the year from Patua,Suaukuunda, Ghasua and Patharkanda villages under Goda Panhayat.
“All our complains with the Panchayati Raj institutions and district authorities have fallen in deaf ears. Even during tenure of Minister Damador Rout as MlA from Erasama constituency, nothing was done to alleviate the sufferings of the villagers. Present MlA Prashant Muduli is not bothered about the ongoing crisis and has preferred to shut his eyes to the problem,” lamented Sarada Jena, a former ZP member from Erasama.
Meanwhile, RWSS officials explained that due to presence of turbidity, alkalinity, and chloride contents in the groundwater at a number of villages, it has not been possible to sink required number of tube wells or repair the defunct ones. Rashmi Ranjan Bihari ,assistant engineer RWSS, explained that for mitigating the water crisis, the Naradia water supply project wll be completed on a war footing. Notably, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had laid the foundation stone of the Rs 4.58 lakh Nardia pipe water project in 2002.
Similarly, a pipe water project launched at Sobha village under Khalagaon Panchayat in Balikuda block in the year 2012 for supplying drinking water to five coastal panchayats is not able to cater to the demands, informed Yudhistera Nayak, a social activist from Naharana village.