The Vasudha water project in Singpur village of Odisha’s Keonjhar district resumed partial operations after women blocked the Kusakala-Rourkela Road for about an hour on Saturday, demanding restoration of the defunct piped drinking-water system.
The project had remained non-functional for several months because all four of its pumps were not working, leaving the village without a regular piped water supply. The blockade brought attention to the disruption and prompted an immediate response from the local administration.
Banspal block development officer Raja Ranjit Pratap Bal said two of the four defunct pumps had been repaired and that water supply had resumed. He said the remaining two pumps would be repaired soon.
Bal also said the villagers had not informed the administration about the problem before the road blockade. The project is operated under the Vasudha scheme of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation department.
The Vasudha scheme is intended to provide safe drinking water to rural households through piped supply systems. In Singpur, the failure of the pumping equipment disrupted the system’s ability to deliver that service for several months.
The immediate restoration is therefore partial: two pumps have been repaired, while two others remain pending. The administration’s next stated step is to complete repairs on the remaining pumps so that the project can return to full operation.
