Schools must have drinking water by July 31

BHUBANESWAR: The school and mass education department has asked the rural water supply and sanitation (RWSS) wing to make provisions for tubewells or piped drinking water supply in government schools that have no drinking water facilities by July 31. As many as 131 government schools in the state do not have drinking water facilities and - remarkably enough - 4,880 schools have no potable water inside the school campus, official sources said.
"We have urged the RWSS wing, under the panchayati raj and drinking water departments, to do the needful when it comes to digging tubewells and supplying drinking water on a war-footing basis," said B S Poonia, state project head of the Odisha Primary Education Project Authority (OPEPA).
The deadline for fixing the water supply issue has been decided as July 31, 2018. "We have asked all block education officers to personally contact the concerned executive officer of RWSS of their district for early installation of tubewell. These tubewells or at least piped water supply will also be provided to schools which have only a well in its compound," he added.
Sources said of the 55,928 schools across the state, as many as 48,513 schools have hand-pump facilities, 7,766 schools have tap water connections and 3,016 schools have wells. TNN