BERHAMPUR: Water bodies in Raigada block of Gajapati district have started drying up with the rise in temperature.
Almost all the villages and hamlets are facing scarcity of drinking water.
Villagers are mostly dependent on tube wells, open wells and natural water streams.
The anganwadi centre of the village also collects water from the ‘nullah’ for preparation of food.
Meanwhile, the water level of ‘nullah’ has reduced and become contaminated as it is being used by both humans and animals.
However, the RWSS officials assured that water will be provided by tankers soon.
Similarly, Champasahi and Kutikia villages under Baliguda block of Kandhamal district is experiencing acute water scarcity.
Though a piped water supply project was constructed in 2016 by RWSS, it has failed to meet the demands of the villagers.
Due to lack of repair and maintenance, the stand posts and pipes have been damaged.
The lone tube well of the village, having a population of 200, is also lying defunct, while the stream, which is flowing around 3 km away, has also dried up.Contacted, Baliguda BDO Naresh Chandra Sabar assured that water will be supplied to the villagers through tankers soon.

Punjab Muktsar, May 19 As polluted water is flowing in canals, the water supply authorities have closed the water inlets of reservoirs so that the already stored water is not contaminted.
The underground water in most parts of the district has been declared unfit.
Now, potable water scarcity is set to hit the area.
Amritdeep Bhattal, SDO, Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Muktsar, said, “We have just got the alert regarding contaminated water flowing in canals in our area.
Now, we are informing our waterworks operators to close the water inlets so that contaminated water doesn’t enter reservoirs.
It may even affect the water supply for some days.
As of now, we will supply the already stored water.” He said most waterworks in the area were dependent on the canal water as the underground water in most parts of the district was declared unfit for drinking.
Meanwhile, farmers said they could not irrigate fields with the contaminated water.
(Archit Watts)

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Sri Lanka on Friday signed a $210 million second tranche loan agreement for the Mahaweli Water Security Investment Program to assist Sri Lanka complete its ongoing drive to deliver surplus water from the Mahaweli river basin to its dry zone, where scarce supplies undermine agricultural output and household incomes.
“Completion of the Mahaweli Development Program is a key priority of the government and this will maximize the productivity of the Mahaweli River Basin water resources by transferring available water to the northern dry zone of Sri Lanka for irrigation, drinking and commercial purposes,” said ADB Country Director, Sri Lanka Resident Mission, Sri Widowati.
“This availability of water will contribute to accelerating local and national economic growth”.
Widowati signed the loan agreement on behalf of ADB while Secretary to the Treasury, Ministry of Finance and Mass Media, Dr. R.H.S.
Samarathunga signed for the Government of Sri Lanka.
The dry zone is home to nearly a third of the country’s population, with 70% of rural dwellers dependent on agriculture for their livelihood.
However, the zone receives less than 1,500 millimeters of rain per year, and droughts are common, which severely affects agricultural output.
As a result, average household incomes are around 10% lower than other parts of the country, and this situation is expected to worsen as the population grows and rainfall in the region diminishes further due to climate change.
ADB’s Multitranche Financing Facility (MFF) – totaling $453 million – will finance more than 250 kilometers of new and upgraded canals, reservoirs, and other irrigation infrastructure, in addition to conducting studies on improving water management and delivery systems.
The first tranche loan of $150 million was made in 2015, and this is the second tranche of the MFF, which will finance the construction of the Kalu Ganga-Moragahakanda Transfer Canal, a part of the Upper Elahera Canal, two new reservoirs namely Mahakithula and Mahakirula, and the inlet tunnel of the Mahakirula Reservior.

New Delhi: Water wars have begun at Delhi Jal Board headquarters, Varunalaya, at Jhandewalan.
On Friday, its gates were locked after several protesting groups reached there demanding water in their parched areas.
“We get water from Haryana through three routes — Yamuna, carrier-lined channel (CLC) and Delhi sub-branch (DSB) canals.
Haiderpur meets its 210MGD capacity from both Yamuna and Bhakhra,” a senior DJB official said.
“We are diverting water from other centres to Wazirabad and Chandrawal.
Areas expected to face disruption in water supply include Lutyens’ Delhi and VIP areas, embassy zone, Moolchand, South Extension, Greater Kailash, Lodhi Road and Nizamuddin in south Delhi; Delhi Cantt and areas around ITO, India Gate and Connaught Place; Janakpuri, Punjabi Bagh and Moti Nagar in west Delhi; Mukherjee Nagar, Model Town, Civil Lines, GTB Nagar and Ashok Vihar in north Delhi.
“The water losses from Yamuna are around 50%.
DSB witnesses lesser and CLC canal’s losses are just around 5% while water is being transported from Munak to Delhi’s WTPs.
The water saved due to building these canals should belong to Delhi, but Haryana wants to exclude it.
Read more City news in English and other languages.

Print While the summer season has already started to affect people, water crisis in a number of localities in the old town area has increased the woes of the masses.
"We all are suffering due to water scarcity and life seems to have come to a standstill.
They informed that in the last few months, the water supply by PHE has witnessed a sharp decline and they only receive about one-fourth of the original supply.
"It is impossible for us to put our agony into words,” they exclaimed.
While expressing anger against the PHE department, the locals alleged that although the lower ranked officials can be seen working, the higher officials seem to be least bothered as they hardly ever visit us.
"We have come to know that there is some problem in the dug-well of the area and it has been prevailing since months, but the department has failed to rectify the fault," the locals complained, adding that they narrated the issue to the Ex-En PHE, AEE PHE and other senior officers several times, but the “officers just give fake assurances.” Leveling allegations of careless approach against the department, the locals said that some influential people have managed extra connections and also use heavy power water motors directly on pipes.
"This is the situation of the district headquarter town.
One can only imagine the state in rural belts," they said.
"Due to construction of a circular road, the course of river has changed and the discharge of the dug-well has considerably decreased,resulting in shortage of water in the tehsil area," a statement by the Ex-En PHE Rajouri read.
The local Education department on Thursday suspended four teachers of different schools in Khawas zone after they were found to be absent from duty.

Gurugram: There are reports that significant parts of the national Capital is running dry.
The impact of water crisis cannot be felt more than in Gurugram where in the past decade 82 per cent of the groundwater reserves have depleted.To address this major problem, the public administration had brought in the rainwater harvesting policy.Yet, despite various claims, the scheme is yet to be a major success in the water-deficient Gurugram.There are over 125 water reservoirs in the city, 60 percent of them are reported to be defunct.These water pits that come under the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG).However, the lack of proper maintenance and the inability to check encroachments have ensured that these pits have not been of any utility.Last year, with the aid of a private organisation, the municipal body had started the process of cleaning the pits.
However, in the later months, this exercise gradually fizzled out of steam.The district administration had also directed various private schools that have large areas to create water harvesting pits.However, this direction was also not followed up.
Besides recharging the water levels, rainwater harvesting pits are also expected to improve the drainage systems of the city that again is proving to be a major civic challenge in the Millennium city.
"It is not that we have given up on water harvesting systems.
In the coming months, we are going to invest more in creating and maintaining water harvesting pits.
It is also important, however, for the citizens to take the initiative and participate in water conservation measures," said an official from the Corporation.It is estimated that over half of the residents get their water supply through borewells.
As there has been a ban by the court to dig illegal borewells, there are over 15,000 illegal borewells in the city.In most of the areas, the groundwater has fallen to levels of 50 metres.Water scarcity in large parts of the city has resulted in the growth of tanker mafia where water is being sold to the residents at exorbitant rates.
Most of the residents complain that they are forced to pay from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 to the private water tankers.The alarming decline in water levels in the city was also stated recently by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

Jammu Kashmir Create water points, hire tankers to fill ponds near Shivalik forests Sumit Hakhoo Jammu, May 16 With the region witnessing dry summer, locals have launched a mission to provide water and save wild animals living in the Shivalik forests in the Kandi belt.
Also, the government’s failure to implement the rainwater harvesting scheme is driving the Kandi belt on the path of destruction.
A group of youth and villagers of 30 panchayats in the Akhnoor-Chhamb belt, some 50 km from Jammu, have been creating water points and filling ponds using water tankers during April-May.
As per the volunteers associated with the project for the past few years, their efforts have paid off as the death rate of birds, especially peacock, due to water scarcity has come down considerably and it has also helped in curbing animal poaching.
All ponds dry up.
We humans can make efforts to help animals and birds which die a silent death due to extreme heat,” Sharma added.
More than a decade ago, Memeber of Parliament Madan Lal Sharma along with the Social Forestry Department had started a major project to expand the green cover, which greatly helped in reviving forests.
However, after the PDP-BJP government came into power no follow-up was done, but these volunteers are determined to safeguard the nature.
“Rainfall is the major source of groundwater recharge in the Kandi belt but in the past few years, there has been scanty rainfall even during monsoon.
There are thousands of natural water bodies and “talabs” spread across the region, but a majority of them have dried up or encroached upon to construct houses.

Steve Elfers, Ian James Using measurements from Earth-observing satellites, NASA scientists have tracked changes in water supplies worldwide and they’ve found that in many places humans are dramatically altering the global water map.
The team of researchers analyzed 14 years of data from NASA’s twin GRACE satellites and studied regions that have seen large increases or decreases in the total amount of freshwater, including water in lakes and rivers and water stored in underground aquifers, soil, snow and ice.
The scientists examined precipitation trends and other data to determine the most likely causes of these huge losses and gains of water around the world.
Their findings in a new study reveal that of the 34 “hotspots” of water change in places from California to China, the trends in about two-thirds of those areas may be linked to climate change or human activities, such as excessive groundwater pumping in farming regions.
“The study shows that humans have really drastically altered the global water landscape in a very profound way.” More: Study: NASA satellites show areas growing drier, wetter In eight of the 34 regions, the researchers said the trends reflect “possible” or “probable” impacts of climate change, including losses of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, precipitation increases in the high latitudes of Eurasia and North America, a retreat of Alaska’s glaciers and melting ice fields in Patagonia.
“In these regions, human impacts are expected to put much bigger pressure on freshwater resources than climate change.” The scientists estimated the water losses and gains in gigatons per year.
And during the 14 years of satellite measurements, nearly all the regions lost or gained at least that much.
“A large portion of them, either direct or indirect human impacts were factors, if not outright the major cause.” In Greenland, where ice is rapidly melting as the planet warms, the researchers estimated water losses at a rate of 279 gigatons per year — an amount equivalent to eight Lake Meads at full capacity, flowing into the oceans and contributing to sea-level rise.
The declining water trends showed up clearly in many of the world’s major food-producing regions, from California and the American Southwest to India, the North China Plain, parts of the Middle East and southern Russia.
The scientists said they found a trend of wet areas getting wetter, especially in the high latitudes and the tropics, and many dry mid-latitude areas getting drier.

The workers of Pakistan Peoples Party Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas Divisions led by opposition leader in National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah staged dharna here at Hyderabad Bypass near Hatri on Wednesday against the shortage of irrigation water as well as announced and unannounced load shedding HYDERABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 16th May, 2018 ) :The workers of pakistan Peoples Party Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas Divisions led by opposition leader in National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah staged dharna here at Hyderabad Bypass near Hatri on Wednesday against the shortage of irrigation water as well as announced and unannounced load shedding.
Addressing the participants of dharna, Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah said people of Sindh were facing artificial water shortage and hours long power breakdown, which he demanded should be stopped.
He said that PPP always struggled to strengthen the federation and for the rights of common people of the country and it would never allow any discrimination with the countrymen.
At present, he claimed that the people of Sindh have been deprived of water and power which would not be tolerated at any cost.
Sindh is also not getting its due share of water, he said and demanded relief to the people of Sindh with immediate effect.
He said that PPP would stage dharna with millions of people at Sindh-Punjab border if the situation continued in future.
The President PPP Sindh Nisar Khuhuro said that Sindh was facing acute shortage of water while hours long announced and unannounced load shedding also made their life miserable.
He demanded the stoppage of such attitude with the people of Sindh.
Among other PPP leaders, Moula Bux Chandio, Nawab Yousuf Talpur, Mir Munawar Talpur, Nafisa Shah, Rashid Rabbani, Sassui Palijo, Shagufta Jummani, Aajiz Dhamra, Aijaz Jakhrani, Jam Khan Shoro, Ali Nawaz Shah Rizvi and Saghir Qureshi also attended dharna.

This is our plight every summer despite the Naveen Patnaik government’s tall claims and promises over the last 18 years, decried the villagers.
We are left high and dry every summer, they remarked in anger and disgust.
This figure is sent to the state secretariate and the CM is impressed during his review meetings without realising that the figures are either fudged or nothing has been done to connect the pipeline to the tank or the pump station does not work due to lack of electrical connection etc.
For instance, there are 23 pipe water supply projects in different panchayats of Naugaon block.
These are connected to the overhead water tank, but water is yet to be pumped to the overhead tank.
The sarpanch of Korua panchayat Mr Aranya Nayak said there are two pipe water projects in Garei and Dhunapada villages but the villagers of Dhanikhia do not get potable water as the pipeline is damaged and in the other there is no connection to the overhead water tank.
In Dabour panchayat, the pump has been defunct since one year and nothing has been done to repair it, resulting in water scarcity in Dabour, Mahanapari villagers.
Villagers of Kusupur, Baramunduli, Anantpur under Balikuda block have alleged that pipe water supply projects have been completed but these projects are not functioning as there is no power connection.
The piped water project at Sankheswer panchayat under Tirtol block has been defunct since six months.
The Executive Engineer, RWSS, Mr Chittaranjan Jena, said: “We have initiated steps for repair and restoration, but it must be understood that the panchayats are in charge of maintenance and repairing of tube wells and pipe water projects.” Ironically, the pre-summer, ritualistic annual line over the last 17 years of the CM has been repair and restoration of all tube wells and water supply lines must be done on war footing!