Bhubaneswar: Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water department has cancelled the leaves of all employees of public health in view of severe heat wave condition in the State.

Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Minister Pratap Jena said a cluster of even 70 households will be provided with the facility of tube wells. Jena said two toll-free numbers has been launched for lodging complaints regarding water supply in rural areas. These numbers are 155359 and 18003456783.

He told reporters that the government is taking steps to ensure the availability of drinking water in all households in rural areas across the State through mega and single drinking water projects.

Steps are being taken to ensure that defunct tube wells are repaired soon, the Minister added.

Teams were formed at block level with mobile vans to attend to complaints immediately, Jena said and added that these teams will repair and restore drinking water supply.

The Minister said review meetings will be held in block and district level every Saturday and Tuesday respectively. He said there are 650 hotspots in 114 urban areas and added that 12.17 lakh houses were given piped water connections. As many as 369000 tube wells have been repaired, the Minister said.

As many as 156 control rooms have been set up in urban areas and the complaints will be solved within 48 hours.