Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has intensified efforts to strengthen rural drinking water infrastructure and ensure long-term water security across the state, with a target of providing piped water access to every family and village by March 2027.
The details were shared by Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Minister Rabi Narayan Naik on Thursday, while outlining the government’s ongoing initiatives to address water scarcity and improve safe drinking water supply in rural areas.
The minister said the government has undertaken large-scale measures to make villages water-secure and provide a permanent solution to drinking water shortages.
According to him, 18,552 single village schemes and 6,369 solar-powered piped water supply projects have already been completed to ensure safe drinking water in rural regions. In addition, 37,876 new tube wells have been approved in different parts of the state to tackle local water-related issues.
To deal with seasonal shortages during the ongoing summer, the government has also deployed 629 water tankers in water scarcity-prone areas. Besides this, 8,281 water kiosks have been opened at various locations to provide drinking water support to residents, the minister said in a series of posts on X.
Naik stated that 20,875 villages have so far been brought under piped water supply coverage, while another 7,042 villages are receiving water through stand post systems. He said the government is giving priority to strengthening water infrastructure in rural Odisha through the rapid execution of mega piped water supply projects.
Out of 207 mega water supply projects planned across the state, 33 projects have already been completed and are currently supplying piped drinking water to 2,402 villages. The government expects another 14 mega projects to be completed by the end of this month, which will extend water supply benefits to an additional 1,331 villages.
Naik further said 35 mega projects that are partially operational are presently supplying water to 3,210 villages. He added that all these projects are expected to become fully functional by the end of September this year.
The minister said that until 2024, only three out of the 207 water projects had been completed, and people were not receiving proper benefits from them. He claimed that the current government has completed 33 projects within a record period and is now successfully delivering purified drinking water through piped connections.
The minister said providing clean and safe drinking water to rural residents remains one of the government’s highest priorities. He added that thousands of villages are now receiving safe water through mega piped water supply projects, single village schemes and solar-based initiatives as part of the state’s broader rural development push.
