Odisha to facilitate drinking water, tap water & rain water harvesting structure in all the schools

Bhubaneswar: Drinking water, tap water connectivity and rain water harvesting facilities along with toilet provisions are to be available in all schools in the State. In this regard, a coordination meeting was held with key departments at Lok Seva Bhawan on Tuesday under the chairmanship of the chief secretary Manoj Ahuja.
The State government along with the government of India is emphasizing that all schools should be ensured with having these facilities.
Reviewing the present status of arrangements in schools, the chief secretary has given necessary instructions and suggestions to the concerned departments and executing agencies for saturation of all schools with having such facilities.
The CS has advised to conduct sample surveys in schools having such facilities to ascertain the ground realities and provide facilities as per requirements. This will help in achieving cent per cent performance in the system by observing the ground situation at the field level. He also directed that all arrangements are in place and regular monitoring should be done for the same.
School & Mass Education Department to conduct a thorough assessment of the water needs of each school, considering the number of students, staff, and the existing water infrastructure and submit requirements to H&UD Department and PR&DW Department .

The H&UD department, PHEO, WATCO, RWS&S( under PR&DW Department) will ensure that all schools as per requirements raised by School & Mass Education Department are connected to reliable water supply, install taps and water fountains at convenient locations within the school premises.
Importance has also given to establish a system for regular monitoring at district level to evaluate the water facilities to ensure they are functioning correctly and meeting the needs of the school.
Principal secretary Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Sushil Kumar Lohani, principal secretary Housing and Urban Development Usha Padhee, State Project Director of Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA), EIC, Department of Water Resources Department, WATCO, Engineers and officials of Public Health Engineering Organisation (PHEO) and senior officials of the concerned departments were also present and participated in the meeting.