Contaminated drinking water irks residents of Cuttack

CUTTACK: The supply of “contaminated” drinking water for the last few days has become a serious concern for the residents in Ganga Mandir locality of the Millennium city. Residents of Ward No 13 and 18 of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) said they have been drinking ‘yellow and smelly’ water supplied by Water Corporation of Odisha Limited (WATCO) for the last 12 days. 

“We are around 500 families residing in Ganga Mandir locality. Water supplied through taps is of yellow colour. We suspect it to be sewage-mixed water,” said Sagar Das, a resident. With no other option, we are using the same after boiling it, said another resident Rashmita Ghose.The locality of Ganga Mandir is prone to jaundice and the residents are affected by the waterborne diseases every year due to the contaminated drinking water.

WATCO officials, however, have refuted the allegation and blamed the deposition of iron in the supply lines as the cause of polluted water and assured to resolve the issue within two or three days.“The discolouration of water could be due to deposition of iron in the pipelines. It is not due to sewage mixing with drinking water but iron,” said general manager WATCO, Cuttack division, Debabrata Mohanty.