BHUBANESWAR: With reports of drinking water scarcity in some parts of the State coming to fore even before the onset of summer, the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) on Monday slammed the BJD Government for its failure to meet the basic needs of people even after 19 years in the saddle.
Coming down heavily on the State Government, OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik said while ruling party is splurging tax payers’ money to dole out freebies to people ahead of the upcoming General Elections, a majority of the population are out of reach of safe drinking water.
Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan are making tall claims on the achievements of the NDA Government at the Centre, they have done precious little to provide safe drinking water to people of Odisha, he said.
“Neither the State nor the Central Government has taken any step for rain water harvesting resulting in fast depletion of groundwater in Odisha,” the OPCC said.
Around 80 per cent people of the State depend on groundwater for their daily needs.
The medium and heavy industries set up in the State are extracting groundwater for their needs and this has led to water shortage in drinking and agriculture purpose.
According to Central Ground Water Board report, the groundwater level in 24 out of 30 districts in Odisha is going down.
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