Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today launched the 24-hour ‘Drink From Tap’ project in 19 cities of the state under the 5T initiative from the convention hall of Lok Seva Bhawan.
The cities which got the 24X7 drinking water facilities are – Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Nimapada, Berhampur, Gopalpur, Rourkela, Sundergarh, Birmitrapur, Rajgangpur, Keonjhar, Joda, Badbil, Champua, Anandpur, Baripada, Rairangpur, Udala, Karanjia and Basnagar. About 5.55 lakh people in these cities will be benefited from it.
It is worth noting that earlier in the 5T initiative, Puri got the Drink From Tap facility. Today in Gopalpur too, the second city in the state, 100 per cent of people have access to the drink-from-tap system. Apart from this, the Chief Minister announced the Drink From Tap program for the cities of Khurda, Jatni and Hinjilicut which will benefit about 1.50 lakh people in these three cities.
Virtually addressing the public from the convention hall of Lok Seva Bhawan, the Chief Minister said that providing safe drinking water to every family has been his dream for a long time and it has always been the priority of his government.
Adding Drink-From-Tap service to 19 cities, the Chief Minister said today is a historic day. Water is precious to all of us. Therefore, the Chief Minister appealed to the public not to waste even a single drop of water, suggesting that we should use it properly.
Chief Minister said clean water is very important for public health and convenience of daily life, and this facility will significantly improve the standard of living of the people in the 5T initiative.
Participating in the program, Housing and Urban Development Minister Mrs Usha Devi stated that the supply of clean drinking water is an important program of the state government.
Justice Ananta Patnaik, the overseeing authority of the OMBADC, said that due to the necessity of his work, he often visits the mining areas where he sees people facing problems getting water. Commending to the role of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, he said that today in those areas, remarkable work has been done in the field of drinking water.
In this program, the Principal Secretary of the Housing and Urban Development Department Mr G. Mathivathanan delivered the welcome speech and thanked Mr PK Swain, CEO of WATCO. Among others, Minister Ashok Panda, Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, Secretary to CM (5-T) V.K. Pandian and Bhubaneswar Mayor Mrs Sulochana Das and other senior officials were present. Leaders, officials and citizens of 19 cities connected through video conferencing.
