Urban Odisha using 'unsafe' drinking water: CAG report

BHUBANESWAR: How is the quality of water consumed by people in urban areas of the State? The CAG report, placed before the State Assembly, has found serious shortcomings in testing infrastructure that compromises the water quality.

The audited report revealed that provisioning of 100 per cent (pc) safe drinking water by 2016-17 as envisaged in ‘Odisha State Urban Water Supply Policy 2013 (OSUWSP) remained unfulfilled due to non-creation of infrastructure, human resources and negligence of officials. Only 19 per cent of the required laboratories were set up and there was no plan in place to bridge the shortfall, in a time-bound manner, it pointed out.

The CAG found that out of the 114 ULBs in the State, 62 ULBs were sourcing water from surface sources (river and lake), requiring water treatment plants (WTPs) for purification. There were 93 WTPs in the 62 ULBs. Though a basic water testing laboratory (WTL) is required for each WTP, there were only 12 WTLs in 19 ULBs and 81 WTPs did not have any WTL to ensure quality of drinking water supplied.

Although OSUWSP envisaged preparation of an action plan, which included establishment of WTLs and mobile water testing labs to achieve 100 pc water quality by 2016-17, no such action plan was prepared and mobile lab set up. 

The audit test checked records of water testing at 14 WTPs in Puri, Koraput, Rayagada and Balangir. Of this, only three WTPs had WTLs (Sunabeda, Koraput and Jeypore divisions) and 11 WTPs did not have any WTL. Several districts were not supplied with chemical, reagents and kits during 2016-19.

During joint physical inspection between December 2019 and February 2020, of three WTPs in Rayagada, Balangir and Puri, two parameters (residual chlorine and turbidity) were tested. It was found that turbidity of clear water was way high than acceptable limit of one NTU as per BIS. 

It was also observed that a significant number of hand pump tube wells were not tested and only 10 out of 19 divisions were covered in testing. The percentage of average shortfall in tests in last three years (2016-19) was as high as 87 and 93 in respect of production wells and hand pump tube wells respectively. 

The CAG found nine labs (one at Bhubaneswar and eight in PH divisions) set up by Public Health Engineering Organisation (PHEO) in collaboration with Spectro Analytical Lab Limited (SAL) at the cost of around Rs 18 crore are not conducting four important tests of disinfection by-product (DBP), anionic detergent, chloramine and mineral oil.