In a bid to provide pure drinking water to the city slum dwellers, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is all set to introduce pay-and-use water ATM service in five places in the city soon.
“In the first phase, the water ATMs will be installed in Saliasahi near Rajiv Bhavan behind the Secretariat, Raghunathpur in Dumduma area and Bharatpur,” said BMC Commissioner Ananta Narayan Jena. Sources said the BMC will spend Rs4 lakh each for the installation of water ATMs while Sarvajal, an organisation supplying clean drinking water, will look after their maintenance.
The first of its kind in the State, the ATMs will provide the customers access to clean water 24×7 hours using a pre-paid card at a cheap rate of 30 paisa per litre. For the distribution of cards, counters will be opened at various places in the city, besides at the Bombay Muncipal Corporation office, sources added.
The water ATM’s have been recently introduced in the country.