IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK WP(C) No.33373 of 2025 Ashutosh Mohanta … Petitioner Mr. Sidhartha Radhakrishnan, Advocate -Versus-

State of Odisha and others … Opposite Parties Mr. Debashis Tripathy, Additional Government Advocate CORAM:

THE HON’BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE AND THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE MURAHARI SRI RAMAN

ORDER

Order No. 27.01.2026

03. 1. The instant Public Interest Litigation raises a serious concern over the supply of drinking water through the supply pipeline already installed at the doorstep of houses in village Raipur in Keonjhar district. According to the petitioner, the water pipeline was installed by the Government to cater to the needs of the inhabitants of the said village way back in the year 2020 but till date no drinking water is supplied through such water pipeline which causes immense difficulty to the inhabitants of the said village as they have to fetch water from the Government tube wells installed at a distant place.

2. It admits no quarrel that the water is a source of life without which the sustenance of the human life cannot be ensured. It is an essential element of life and duty cast upon the Government to provide safe drinking water to the human race. There is no incongruity in perceiving the necessity of the water being a source of life and it is collective responsibility of the Government to provide drinking water. By the advent of the human civilization and to ensure the good governance, the drinking water supply is made at the door steps and after the Urban Development having taken place rapidly each household is provided with the drinking water through a pipeline installed by the Government. It is engulfed into a fundamental right envisaged under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The right to life imbibe within itself right to have safe drinking water for survival of the human race.

3. The petition would reveal that the Government took the initiative in installing the drinking pipeline at the said village as far back as in the year 2020, yet the supply of drinking water through such pipeline appears to be a far cry. It is not only an obligation imposed upon the Government to supply drinking water to its citizenry but is also a constitutional obligation which cannot be undermined and not to be whittled down by any means.

4. It is arduously submitted by the learned Additional Government Advocate on the basis of the written instructions received from the concerned officer that because of certain litigations pending before the Court, the construction of a tank could not be completed so as to ensure an uninterrupted supply of drinking water through such pipeline into Gram Panchayat area namely, Udayapur and Khajirapat. It is further submitted that since the Raipur village is coming under the Udayapur Gram Panchayat despite the installation of the pipeline in the year 2020, seamless supply of drinking water could not be made. However, alternative possibilities have been explored by the Government to connect the Mega Pipe Water to Raipur village but to put everything in place would consume sometime.

5. Since the Government has taken a conscious decision and explored an alternative mechanism to provide safe and drinking water through such pipeline under the Mega Pipe Water Project, we, thus, find that the grievance raised in the instant writ petition is redressed subject to the Government must show alacrity in completing such project within a reasonable time. It further appears that nine numbers of Government tube wells have been installed at Raipur village to cater to the needs of the villagers for sustenance of their lives and six months’ time have been sought to complete such alternative mechanism having installed in the meantime. We, therefore, expect that the Government will complete the work within the aforementioned timeline.

6. On the basis of such observations, the writ petition is, thus, disposed of.

(Harish Tandon)

Chief Justice (M.S. Raman)

Judge Aswini Signature Not Verified Digit