The flip side is interesting too. Recently, a snap in water supply to some parts of Bhubaneswar led to a crisis of drinking water provisions.

Every time there is a problem with water supply from Kuakhai, State Public Health Engineering Organisation (PHEO) seeks alternatives. The solution lies elsewhere though.

A recent assessment shows Bhubaneswar figures among the top cities when it comes to water loss caused by leakage in the public supply system. National average of water loss of Class I cities is 21.62 per cent. Bhubaneswar shows a 40 per cent loss which means people get barely 60 per cent of the fresh and processed water on a daily basis. It means the 40 per cent of the total cost involved in the processing and supply of fresh water goes down the drain.

Who works on water conservation issues.

Of the 239 million litre per day (MLD) supply of water, at least 95.66 MLD goes waste. By 2030, population of the City is likely to rise to 17 lakh and the water requirement will go up to 254 MLD. ``If the current situation of leakage-caused loss continues, the City would face a deep crisis,’’ says Bikash Kumar Pati, of RCDC, who works on water conservation.

However, the most alarming issue is an excessive dependency on groundwater in the City with erosion of water bodies and mindless sinking of tube wells.

Over the years, the over-reliance on groundwater without paying attention to rainwater harvesting and recharge has caused a huge depletion. A survey says that during the last seven years, the groundwater had fallen by 18 ft in the City.

In 2002, water was available 8.53 metre below the ground. By 2008, it went down to 14.54 metre. At least 35 per cent of the groundwater is drawn in the Capital is from 139 wells and it says a lot about a crisis which now stares at the City dwellers.

Rainwater harvesting is the only solution. Given the monsoon rainfall, the City can do well to adopt rainwater harvesting atop the building structures. Calculations say if 20,000 residential buildings with 150 sq metre of rooftops adopt harvesting along with 80,000 sq metre rooftops of government buildings, they can contribute to 6.48 million litre per day for supply. It can sustain 48,000 people in the City.

Pati says, Bhubaneswar Development Authority has made rainwater harvesting mandatory in the structures but it will do well to ensure it is implemented in spirit.