The Tripura government is planning to set up ‘Water ATMs’ in all schools, colleges and railway stations to ensure safe drinking water supply, a state minister said on Tuesday.
Replying to a calling attention notice in the state Assembly today, Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation (DWS) Sudip Roy Burman said the automated machines will dispense pure drinking water.
Burman said the groundwater level in the state was declining and rainwater would be harvested in the hilly areas, 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 West Bengal government had launched a similar ‘Water ATM’ project earlier this year.
The minister said all the 8,723 habitations of the state are currently covered by safe drinking water supply.
However, 18 among them were identified as ‘slip back’ habitations, which slipped back from fully covered ones. “We would resume water supply in those slip back habitations, we are working with that aim.”
On the recent outbreak of diarrhoea at Kadamtala-Kurti and Pyaricherra tea gardens in North Tripura district, Burman, who is also the health minister of the state, said it occurred due to consumption of contaminated water.
A disrupted pipeline had caused contamination of safe drinking water, he said.