BHUBANESWAR: The government's tall claim of repairing all defunct tubewells across the State within a period of 15 days has fallen flat before the findings of a survey carried out by a Bhubaneswar-based organisation.

The government had on April 10 announced that all defunct tubewells in the State would be repaired in 15 days time to help people cope with the drinking water crisis during peak summer days.

Study findings

The study conducted by RCDC Centre for Water for Life, an organisation working exclusively in the field of water in the State, said that in the area covered by the survey, only 27.57 per cent tubewells were repaired in the period between April 10 and May 4. The figures collected during the course of the survey revealed that out of a total of 1,476 tubewells in the 30 selected panchayats in different parts of the State, 903 were defunct as on April 10, the day the 15-day special drive began. Out of these, a total of 249 were repaired between April 10 and May 4.

Giving details of the survey, RCDC Executive Director Tapan Padhi said even the figure of 27.57 per cent was inflated because the survey cut off date was May 4, full 9 days after the expiry of the government's self-imposed deadline. The 30 panchayats that were chosen for the survey from May 4 to May 6 were situated near the block headquarters and had good road communication. This was done to allow the government as much leverage as possible with regard to the fulfilment of targets, Mr. Padhi added.

The panchayats covered under the survey were spread over 24 of the total 30 districts in the State.

Mr. Padhi further pointed out that only 43 self-employed mechanics were working in the area covered under the survey, whereas, as per government norms, the number of such mechanics should have been 74. There was a shortfall of 31 SMEs in the panchayats studied, he added.

Spare parts

He pointed out that availability of spare parts needed for tubewell repair was no better. Only 4 out of the 30 districts had sufficient spare parts with them to attend to breakdown cases, while 20 had limited number of spare parts and six had no spare parts at all, Mr. Padhi claimed.

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