Odisha received the coveted Global Water Award, 2022 in the Global Water Summit held in Madrid, Spain recently.
This Global Award is given to Odisha for the achievements made in providing 24×7 Drink from Tap water supply in Odisha, first ever project to be initiated and completed in record time in India for achieving 100% House connections in the Urban areas of Odisha.
Odisha’s Puri has become the first city in the country to have a drink-from-tap facility. The city has ensured under this project safe drinking water can be used directly from tap for cooking and drinking, without requiring further filtration.
The programme was launched as Sujal last year by Naveen Pattnaik, Odisha’s Chief Minister. Kick-starting the Sujal or drink-from-tap mission, Chief Minister had announced that “Puri has now joined the elite group of international cities like London, New York and Singapore in supplying quality potable water from municipal taps throughout the day.”
The project was implemented by Water Corporation of Odisha – WATCO.
G Mathi Vathanan, Principal Secretary, Urban & Housing Development Government of Odisha received this award at Madrid, Spain. He lauded the achievement of
WATCO by saying that WATCO has made these dramatic achievements within a short span of 6 years from its incorporation.