Port town Paradip is facing acute water shortage during the ongoing scorching summer. The mercury has touched 38 degree Celsius, putting the residents in utter hardships.
The breakdown of supply water pipelines due to cracks at strategic places and dipping of groundwater level have compounded the woes. The situation is alarming in thickly populated slum settlements like Badapadia, Nua Bazar, Nehru Bangala and Sandhakuda etc. Paradip Port Trust (PPT) is the only source of water supply as Paradip Municipality has no arrangement. Normally, the PPT water is supplied to port areas and residential colonies. The water reservoir in Paradip can supply up to three million gallons of water per day, but demand of township and slum pockets stands at five million gallons per day.
The ground water, which was available at 250 to 300 metres, has gone down to below 400 metres mostly due to industrialisation. The industries have sunk deep bore wells and are pumping out water through pumps. Sources from Paradip Municipality said a few years back, the municipality had earmarked Rs20 crore to set up a water supply project, but it could not materialise due to non-availability of land. The number of tankers available with the municipality is not enough to meet the water requirement of slum dwellers.