Strong resentment is brewing among the inmates of Kendrapara sub-jail as they are reeling under drinking water scarcity in the ongoing summer with the authorities having failed to solve the problem. Superintendent Biren Sahu said more than 200 inmates, including females, are now residing in the sub-jail at Barimula. But they are getting water from a single tube well for their daily needs. The inmates alleged that they have to use water with heavy iron content. Though the jail authority has made arrangements of water purifier machines and aqua guards, but most of the time, the machines go defunct. As a result, the inmates have to consume unclean water. Besides, no water is found from the tube well, when a motor pump, fixed with the bore well, is started to fill the tanks on the building roofs.
According to the superintendent, the existing tube well was set up for the construction of jail building works. But later it was used for all purposes starting from cooking, drinking to performing daily routines by the inmates. The problem with the tube well water is that the iron content in it is high. However, since there is no alternative, the jail inmates have to fall back on the contaminated water with much grumbling. It is said that as the tube well was not dug deeply, so iron content in the water is high. “We umpteen times brought the matter before the jail authority, the local MP and the district Collector to construct another deep bore well at the jail premises, but they only lent deaf ears to it,” the jail inmates lamented. When contacted, district Collector Nitin Bhanudas Jawale stated that he had directed the RWSS department to look into the matter by visiting the jail. A couple of days back, the Executive Engineer of RWSS had visited the jail to take stock of the situation. He has given an estimate of Rs7.25 lakh to the jail superintendent for a permanent solution of the water problem in the jail, said sources.