Water problem may ease soon in Berhampur

Water woes in this silk city in south Odisha may soon ease thanks to a number of new drinking water projects that are being planned at a total cost of Rs 446 crore.
The state 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, a senior official said.
While approving the projects, 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, 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, sources said.
"We hope the project will solve the drinking water problem in the town," said MLA (Berhampur) R Ch Cyaupatnaik.
At present, 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 chief minister had laid the foundation stone of the Janibili project on October 3,2013. The cost of the project was estimated to be Rs 415 crore at that time. PHEO engineers have now made a fresh estimate of Rs 320 crore for the project and submitted it to the government for approval.
Mohapatra said Berhampur would require around 125 million litres water per day by 2045 and the detailed project report was prepared keeping this in mind. Thr proposed projects would eventually provide around 125 million litres of water per day, he added.