Berhampur: Water woes of Berhampur city may soon ease thanks to a number of new drinking water projects planned at a cost of Rs 446 crore.
Odisha government recently approved drinking water projects worth Rs 446 crore including the much awaited Rs 320 crore Janibili project and a Rs 120 crore project to lay pipelines and underground tanks in the uncovered areas in the city.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had asked the concerned officers to float tenders by October.
Executive Engineer of the Public Health Engineering Organization (PHEO), Deba Sundar Mohapatra has confirmed that the tender process for the projects had already been started.
The projects were likely to be implemented through loans from
different agencies.
The proposed drinking water projects are drawing water from the Janibili diversion wire, about 47km from here, through underground pipes, to set up another water treatment plant of 75 million liter per day (mld), and to lay a 37-km pipeline to ensure water supply to the uncovered areas of the town.
Berhampur requires around 60 million liters of water daily. In winter, the town gets almost adequate water from various sources, including Dakhinapur reservoir and Rushikulya water supply system.
But in summer, there is acute drinking water supply from the Rushikulya system decreases. , officials said.
The silk city is likely to require around 125 million litres water per day by 2045 and the detailed project report was prepared keeping this in mind, officials said.