Bhubaneswar, Mar 23: When there is already water scarcity in Odisha, wasting water in most parts here questions the efficacy of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) in effective management of water. For example at at Raj Kumar Basti in Satya Nagar here is one such area of water wastage. A visually-impaired social activist staying at the Basti named Sanyasa Behera wrote a letter to the Prime Minister to which the Prime Minister Office (PMO) directed the State government to act on the issue but the BMC is yet to take up any step. Behera stated to the media that even the PMO’s order is not getting adhered to leave alone a common man or for that matter a visually impaired person. World Water Day can be celebrated successfully only if the consumption of contaminated water is atleast prevented. Some other areas here facing water scarcity are Salia Sahi, Manda Sahi and Jadupur (Khandagiri). Also, jaundice has been rapidly spread in Salia Sahi and Manda Sahi due to the use of contaminated fresh water.
On the other hand, BMC Mayor Anant Narayan Jena stated that under Amrut Yojana all private, government and slum areas here are covered and within one year there will be water in all areas through stand posts, pipelines and individual water connections. Earlier a water ATM (water vending kiosks) was launched by the BMC here on the eve of local self governance day to ensure sufficient fresh water availability. It also plans to set up 30 more ATMs and a waste water treatment plant. But the plans are yet to materialized. Urban Town Planner Piyush Ranjan focused on the need to speed up the ongoing construction of waste water treatment plant.
