Inaugurating the capacity building programme for ‘Jal Sathis’ here, Patnaik said the state’s ‘Drink from Tap’ mission providing drinking water round the clock adhering to international quality standards has been acclaimed nationally and internationally for replication.

“Odisha’s ‘Drink from Tap’ and ‘Jal Sathi’ have become national priorities and are now included as part of AMRUT 2.0 for implementation in all the states,” Patnaik said.

“Decentralisation and community partnership are the two eyes of Odisha model of urban governance, and our Jal Sathis represent both. I am happy that Jal Sathi, an initiative launched three years ago on pilot basis, is today managing urban water supply in the entire state,” he said.

As of now, as many as 740 Jal Sathis are managing 8.4 lakh consumers and water charges to the tune of Rs 67 crore have been collected.

Based on the success of the Jal Sathi programme, the state government has decided to partner with Mission Shakti groups in property tax collection in all the urban areas. This is aimed at increasing revenue collection of the urban local bodies (ULBs) as well as empowering the Mission Shakti groups with more economic opportunities, Patnaik said.

Principal Secretary in the housing and urban development department, G. Mathivathanan, informed that 97 per cent of the urban population in the state now have access to piped water.

While 85 towns of the state have 100 per cent piped water supply connection, the remaining 20 towns will be covered by December 2023, he said.

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