originally published on March 13, 2016

BHUBANESWAR: Even after expenditure of hundreds of crores of rupees under drinking water and sanitation schemes, access of people to drinking water and latrine facilities in Odisha remains one of the lowest in the country.

According to the Economic Survey for 2015-16 released by the Centre recently, only 13.8 per cent of households have access to tap water while only 22.4 per cent of the people have drinking water facilities within the premises they reside.

Odisha remains far behind the national average of 43.5 per cent of households which have access to tap water and 46.6 per cent who have drinking water facilities within their premises.

The disparity across the States in terms of access to household amenities like tap water and latrine facilities is sharp. While access and coverage of latrine facilities is as high as 95 per cent in Kerala, 91 per cent in Mizoram and 89 per cent in Manipur, less than 25 per cent of households have access to latrine facilities within the household premises in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha. Odisha has been bracketed with States like Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam where less than 15 per cent households have access to piped water.

Official sources maintained that only 1,06,787 of total 81,73,296 rural households have pipe water connection. Of 47,149 villages in the State, only 17,210 have pipe water connection. The State Government has set a target to connect all villages with pipe water by 2025 and construct latrines for all households by 2019. However, the State Government is yet to fix a target as when all households in rural areas will be provided pipe water facility.

Meanwhile, the Centre has asked the State Government to enact State Water Resources Regulation Act to regulate water resources of the State in the event of any scarcity. Besides, the Centre has advised the State Government to establish State Water Board headed by the Chief Minister and State Water Council headed by the Chief Secretary to manage water resources.

Poor Show

Of 47,149 villages in the State, only 17,210 have pipe water connection

Less than 25 pc of households have access to latrine facilities

Access and coverage of latrine facilities is as high as 95 pc in Kerala

Govt has set a target to connect all villages with pipe water by 2025 and construct latrines for all households by 2019