Kendrapada: A Rs 114-crore drinking water project meant to provide piped water to nearly two lakh people in 146 villages of Aul and Rajkanika blocks has missed its Dec 2025 deadline, with about 70% of the work completed. Officials now expect it to be completed by March 2027.The state govt floated a tender in 2021 for the project, which will draw water from Kharasrota river to address chronic water scarcity and salinity in the two blocks. The work was awarded to a construction company in March 2021 for completion by Dec 2025.The delay has caused resentment among residents, who said they continued to face acute drinking water shortages. Sukant Das of Rajkanika said repeated requests to authorities to expedite the project had gone unheard.Damodar Dhal, a retired schoolteacher from Tentulikoli village, alleged that the company had deployed very few workers, slowing construction. Kaliprasad Nayak, a retired schoolteacher from Jharamuha, said residents of several villages depended on a few tubewells. He said political leaders’ election promises to expedite the project have not been fulfilled.Aul residents also complained of groundwater depletion and salinity. Bhimasen Bhuyan, a lawyer from Bhuipur village, said tubewells yielded only saline water and early completion of the project was crucial.RWSS executive engineer Sujit Kumar Lugun said two intake wells had been built in the blocks and pipelines laid in several villages. He said the project is expected to be completed in March 2027 and would help address the area’s long-standing drinking water problem.