With water borne diseases taking at least 19 lives in Sambalpur and spreading in other districts, public health authorities at Jeypore in Koraput district have decided replace old and damaged water pipes in the town with an investment of Rs two crore soon.
The existing water pipes laid about three decades ago have become weak. New pipes will be laid to replace the damaged ones with an expenditure of about Rs two crore, Sub- Divisional Officer (SDO), Public Health and Engineering Organisation (PHEO), Jeypore, Gopal Chandra Nayak said.
Though Nayak claimed that the department had randomly collected water sample from various stand points across the town for laboratory test and the water found to be germ free, they would repair minor leakages in pipelines soon.
Besides, five major pipelines passing through drains would be shifted and pipelines in new street and old fish market replaced. "We hope to complete the entire process in January", he said.
Nayak said the department planned to strengthen the water supply system to autment its water storage capacity to cater to the need for four to five days. The filtration centre at Hatisala would also be modernised, he said.
