As summer arrives, Urban Odisha gets scared about water

With a projected population nearing 9.40 lakhs, as per India Population 2019, Bhubaneswar has the reputation of being the hottest city of the country. With the monsoon trend delaying by almost one month, the worry for the urban dwellers of the state is the possible water scarcity they have to face soon as they have been facing for many years

Can water ATMs ease the daily struggle of the poor in Bhubaneswar?

At Mamata Gharana, Bhubaneswar’s first community home for members of the transgender community, Madhuri Kinnar, 38, is happy that she and her mates — over 70 others who stay here — now have access to clean water in their own slum for consumption.

“Over the last two decades, we have faced lots of problems in getting water. We had to go to Vani Vihar or Rasulgarh, both kilometres away from the Kinnar Basti (transgender slum) to collect water for our consumption and other daily uses,” Madhuri, President of All Odisha Transgender Association, said, “You can imagine how difficult it is to fetch the entire amount of water we require from such distant places.”