Water Feeder is a compilation and analysis of water-related news Volume 1, Issue 7

published in Odia and local English dailies (all –Bhubaneswar Edi-

April 2010
tion) with an objective to help water professionals and enthusiasts
to capture and comprehend issues and conflicts around water
(through eyes of media). It also provides geographical, seasonal
and media perspectives of water issues and conflicts with respect
http://odishahydrologyproject.org/images/Water_resources_map.g
to Odisha.

This Seventh issue is being presented in a new format covering the water ‘News Analysis’ from 5
major Odia Dailies and one English daily for the month of April 2010. We seek your comments in
improving the usability and relevance of Water Feeder. You are also requested to send us Water
News, worries and conflicts from your areas which are not getting reported and reflected in Media.
Please send your response to baitarani@gmail.com)
A Monthly Dose of Odia Water News

Onset of summer is warming up competition and conflicts around water. It is also

exposing the inadequacy of the reactionary measures besides putting a question
mark on the ongoing water resources management and governance paradigms.
With mercury climbing, hot ‘water news’ in media has also gone up. However, their
intensity, frequency and geography of coverage, continue be influenced by the al-
legiance and constituencies of the journalists, newspapers and the larger political
economy.

Quite obviously ‘access to safe and secured drinking water’ was the key-news
theme of this month. The issues and conflicts around scarcity and quality of water
have been reported from different parts of Odisha like Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Bari-
pada, Balasore, Rourkela, Bolangir, Keonjhar, Berhampur, Jajpur and Anugul in dif-
Water Feeder -

ferent Newspapers.

Our Other Water E-publication @ SCRIBD

Past Issues Of
Water Feeders
“River Basin Transact”
available at
www.scribd.com Newspapers Covered
News Analysis Around
Drinking Water Crisis 2
May 2009
Irrigation 3
June 2009
Ground Water Depletion 3
July 2009
Pollution 3
Aug 2009
Jan & Feb, 10 Hydropower 3

Mar,10 Block-wise drinking water 4

THE KHABAR scarcity GIS Map
Page 2
Drinking Water Crisis: Spreading Tentacles
The drinking water crisis in
Odisha has become more
prominent this month with
summer heats intensifying,
hydrological year ending and
public water supply systems
succumbing to multidimen-
sional stresses. Citizen-
sufferings and public outrage
over drinking water from dif-
ferent parts of the state have
been widely covered by the
media in this month. Water
scarcity in different parts of
Odisha, covered by most of the
Odia dailies, was primarily
attributed to the intense heat
Drinking Water Facts wave.
• 92% of rural habitations Western Odisha
in Odisha has have The water supply system in
access to safe drinking Rourkela has been in miserable
condition. The cry for water in
water against 73%
the steel city is reported to be
nationally
getting shriller with the rise in
• 60% of rural households mercury levels. People of this
have access to hand area are also suffering a lot due
to the water contamination. The
pumps, 29% to open
piped water supply system of
wells, 3% to taps
Sambalpur was also reported to
• In KBK, out of 69 water not working properly leading to
supply projects, 39 are its citizens facing acute water
dysfunctional due to
crisis. Defunct transformers and
long hours of unscheduled
failure in power supply power cuts added to the water
• In KBK, 1,610 tube wells woes of rural communities in
are sunk without the Sambalpur making situations
worse. Bolangir is prone to
mandatory survey on
health hazards due to high fluo-
groundwater ride contamination in drinking
water. In most parts of Bolangir,
irregular and insufficient water
supply is making the water prob-
lems further acute this summer.
The water supply in the Jhar-
suguda town has become erratic
and massive industrialization
seem to be taking its toll. In the
Aamdhara village under Rajpur
News Paper Coverage of Drinking Water in
Apr' 2010
Dharitri Indian
4% Express
Sambad
14%
14%
Samaja
11%
Pragatibadi Khabara
18% 39%
WATER FEEDER - A MONTHLY DOSE OF ODIA WATER NEWS
gram panchayat in Jharsuguda
block, the dug wells have gone
dry. Inhabitants said it takes 15
minutes to
collect a Issues R ep o rt ed ar o und D rinking W at er Scarcit y
bucket of
Water quality
water from
problem
the tube well.
Coastal Od-
isha
Lack of access
to adequate
quantity and Problem in
right quality of Water Supply
water in most
48%
part of the
Bhubaneswar
and surround-
ing area was a major problem,
reported The Sambad. The
problem of drinking water in the
Khordha district became very
acute with rising temperature and
irregularity of water supply, re-
ported by The Dharitri. As re-
ported in the Khabara, acute
drinking water crisis was felt in
Tangi due to the irregularity of
water supply. The water Kiosk
(Jala Chhatra) of Tangi area have
not been distributed properly
and the water supplied by them
was also found to be not safe
enough for drinking water pur-
pose, reported by The Khabara
(09.04.2010). It was reported in
The Pragatibadi, that the piped
water supply of Jagatsinghpur
area were not working properly.
In Astaranga inadequate piped
water supply lead to scarcity and
community sufferings. As per
the news of The Khabara, the
Swajaladhara project of Man-
galpur block was not working
properly. Tube well– water in
many part of the Balasore district
were found to be highly contami-
nated with problems of salinity,
iron, fluoride, chloride and ni-
trates etc. This has compounded
the thirst in the district, this sum-
mer reported The Indian Ex-
press,
Northern Odisha
The piped water supply has be-
come very irregular and inade-
quate in Keonjhar district result-
ing in acute scarcity of drinking
water. In Ambadiha colony of
Baripada area, inadequate piped
water supply lead to scarcity as
reported by most of the Odia
daily’s.
The residents of Dhenkanal were
Drying of
7% Water Source
24%
Ground water
depletion
7%
Non-
functioningTub
e Wells
14%
facing acute water crisis due to
the intense heat wave. It has also
reported to be resulted in in-
creasing intensity of disease inci-
dence. Most of the Tube wells of
Bhuban area were defunct and
not functioning properly. In
Bhuban, and Hindola in
Dhenkanal, inadequate piped
water supply lead to scarcity as
reported by most of the Odia
dailies.
Southern Odisha
Most of the panchayats of Gan-
jam district are also reported to
be suffering from water scarcity.
As a precautionary measure,
Government of Odisha has de-
cided to install tube wells in
every block of the state to deal
with the shortage of drinking
water in rural areas during sum-
mer, reported in The Dharitri
(13.04.2010). 1.2 Water to
industry
Water to industry is a growing
controversy, with demand of
industry increasing day by day. In
an attempt to meet demand of
industry, Govt is alleged to ne-
glect the huge water needs for
agriculture in the state. As per
the news in The Dharitri, most
of the industries of Odisha are
using the river water . Indiscrimi-
nate and increasing water intake
by the industries, is compound-
ing the sufferings the people of
Odisha with dwindling access
and a depleting the ground water
level, reported The Samaja.
 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 7
Ground Water Facts
Now, 29% of total 5723
groundwater blocks in
India are semi-critical,
critical, or overexploited,
and the situation is
deteriorating rapidly.
By 2025, an estimated
60% of India's
groundwater blocks will be
in a critical condition.
Pollution Facts
• B rahmani gets about
98,000 Crore litres of
polluted water every
year from MCL
http://www.docstoc.com/
docs/22863523/Industrialization-
Environmental-Pollution-in-Talcher-
Belt-of-Orissa/
. 8%
Coverage of Water Issues in April 2010
Water pollution
6%
Ground water
crisis
9%
Water for
Agriculture
2%
Water to industry
6%
Irrigation
The principal problem of agri-
culture in Odisha is the short-
age of water in many areas. As
per the news of The Sambad,
the irrigation facility of Utta-
rachhaka block has been de-
funct for long time but no ac-
tion is being taken by govern-
ment for its repair. The irriga-
tion network in Bramhapur
area was not working properly
and for this irrigation affected a
lot.
Pollution
Taladanda canal has now been
heavily polluted due to the in-
dustrial and domestic effluents
which created health hazards
among the people. In
Kendrapara, Canals always
considered the life line for the
Hydropower
The Machhakund hydroelec-
tricity has been in danger due
to the threat from naxalites.
Otherwise also, the hydroelec-
tricity power production crisis ,
leading to load shedding has
been reported as a major prob-
lem covered by most of the
Odia dailies
Hydropower
8%
Drinking water
Ground Water Depletion
Due to the depletion of ground
water the drinking water quality
is deteriorating day by day. The
deepening ground water level
in different areas is being real-
ized as a serious cause of water
scarcity in Odisha. The prob-
lem of ground water depletion
rising day by day in Bhubanes-
war reported in The Pragati-
badi. Most of the tube wells in
Koraput area were defunt since
the month of January but the
PHED has not yet taken any
steps for its repair.
As per the news of The Kha-
bara, many parts of the
people of that area are now in a
moribund state. Kendrapara,
Marsaghai, Pattamundai and
Zamboo canals which have
been catering to the drinking
water and farming needs of
people of that area for over 100
Coverage of Water Issues in April 2010
IE
Samaja
15%
Sambad
10%
Pragatibadi
22%
69%
Page 3
Khordha district suffered the
problem of ground water de-
pletion because of the en-
croachment of traditional water
resources by the builders. This
has made the renovation of
these water resources very diffi-
cult. It has reported to lead to
complete drying of of tube
wells in Ganganagar and Dum-
duma. This problem has also
been reported to have led to
dysfunction of hundreds of
tube wells and wells in Bara-
gada, Jajpur, Bhubaneswar,
Koraput areas.
years wear an unhygienic look.
In Jatani area the water reser-
voirs are now polluted due to
the domestic and industrial
effluents, reported The Dhari-
tri (16.04.2010).
Khabara
32%
Dharitri
13%
 Concept, Design & Editing : Pranab
Compilation : Sucharita & Priyabrata
Odisha State Center,
Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water
Conflicts in India,
Baitarani Initiative, Shristi,
Bhubaneswar
GIS Inputs : Ranjan Mallick
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