Hit by water scarcity, villagers use rainwater to quench thirst in Odisha

PARADIP: Rains are a blessing for water-starved villagers of Biswali panchayat in Kujang block. Reeling under acute shortage of water, the villagers, especially women, have mastered the art of harvesting rainwater to meet their daily needs including drinking purpose.

Biswali, with a population of 6,000, has 60 tube-wells. However, only one is operational. And the sources of water are nearly 2 km from the panchayat which is often a burdensome affair for village women.

Pramila Majhi of Koladiha village said she needs at least 25 litre water daily to meet the needs of her five-member family. “When it rains, we collect water from the roof of our house. We use polythene sheets on the roofs to collect water which is then poured into utensils. The rainwater is boiled before we consume it,” she said. 

Earlier, the women used to walk 2 km to collect water from ponds. But now, they rely on rainwater as several villagers fell sick even after boiling the water collected from ponds. Biswali sarpanch Suprava Sahoo said she had given a proposal to install a solar drinking water system in the panchayat but it is yet to be approved by the RWSS department. In 2018, the department had proposed to install a piped water project at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore in Biswali. 

As per the plan, pipes were to be laid to bring filtered drinking water to the panchayat from Taladanda canal. However, residents of Bhutmundei panchayat, where the project was supposed to be set up, opposed it following which it was shelved. 

Junior engineer of RWSS, Kujang Manasi Behera said the department is planning to conduct a meeting between residents of Bhutmundei and Biswali to resolve the pipe water project issue. The department has not received any complaints of scarcity of water from the villagers of Biswali, she claimed.