With ground water level depleting and water projects defunct, people are facing a harrowing time.
In slums, where the problem has taken an alarming proportion, people can be seen standing in serpentine queues in front of stand posts or tube-wells every day.
The existing water supply system, being managed by the Paradip Port Trust (PPT), does not suffice in meeting the growing water needs of people.
The town has a population of two lakh with a majority of it settled in 26 slums.
There are three water reservoirs in the town which store and provide two million gallon litres of drinking water per day against the daily requirement of five million gallon litres.
Although the reservoirs can store up to three million gallon litres, water carrying capacity in these structures has gone down over the years due to deposition of silt and lack of maintenance.
Even as the Orissa Groundwater Rule, 2006,(regulation and control of development and management) has been enacted to regulate exploitation of ground water resources, it fails to prevent illegal pumping of ground water for industrial activity.
Water tankers pressed in by the municipal authorities are the sole source of drinking water for over more than one lakh slum dwellers.
● Water level in Taladanda canal has gone down resulting in scarcity ● The existing water supply system, being managed by the Paradip Port Trust, does not suffice in meeting the growing water needs of people.
● The town has a population of two lakh with a majority of it settled in 26 slums