The Tripura government has planned to set up ‘water ATMs’ in all schools, colleges and railway stations beside massive rainwater harvesting to ensure round the year supply of safe drinking water in hills and geographically difficult areas of the State, Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation (DWS) Sudip Roy Burman said on Tuesday.
In reply to a calling attention notice in the state Assembly, Burman said that the government has decided to set up reverse osmosis plant for purification along with automated machines which will dispense pure drinking water.
Burman also said the ground water level in the State was declining and rainwater would be harvested in the hilly areas while reverse osmosis water treatment plants would also be set up in key locations of Tripura.
“We can’t simply go on exploiting our groundwater reserves. It has to be used scientifically,” he said.
The minister further said all the 8,723 habitations of the State are currently covered by safe drinking water supply.
He however, accepted that 18 among them were identified as ‘slip back’ habitations, which slipped back from fully covered ones.
Burman, who is also the Health Minister of the State, informed the House that the recent outbreak of diarrhoea at Kadamtala-Kurti and Pyaricherra tea gardens in North Tripura district is due to consumption of contaminated water.
He informed that because of disrupted pipeline the whole were made to steal water and through which pure water got contaminated.
He also assured the House that this government is dedicated towards providing pure drinking to every household and is tirelessly started working towards it.