Odisha UD minister finds all is not well at water treatment plants

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Jan 8:

In the backdrop of contaminated water causing the spread of jaundice in several areas of Odisha, Urban Development minister Pushpendra Singhdeo today went on a surprise visit to the water treatment plants at Mundali in Cuttack and Palasuni near Bhubaneswar to see for himself if the norms of purification of water are being followed.

The minister initiated disciplinary action aganinst three absent Junior Engineers (JE) assigned there.

Singhdeo, who reached who reached the site at about 10:30 AM, found the JEs absent on their stations. Further, it was noticed that they don’t live in the government allocated quarters even though they get the house rent reimbursed from the state government.

What irked him further was the fcat that the important treatment plants that supply drinking water to Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC)are being operated by an inexperienced DLR workers. To make matters worse, the engineer didn’t have the required knowledge of testing the quality of water and water purification.

The minister has asked the Chief Engineer to submit a report on the irregularities on the house rent and arrange proper training of the employees to ensure they have the required expertise to carry out their job.

He has also directed to equip all Public Health Department centres with machinery to check the quality of water and fill up job vacancies and focus on proper documentation as and when required.

Keeping in mind the Jaundice situation in the state, he has directed the officials to ensure zero leakage in water supply pipes and remove pipes that have been spread under sewerage or drainage lines and keep testing the sump, underground and overhead tank waters intermittently.

Further, he has urged the top officials to conduct surprise checks of the sources of water supply, crosscheck the record and registers and check the quality of water that reaches the consumers.