The Hindu 03.12.2010
VMC set to bail out sand from 10 MGD plant
Staff Reporter
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Expert committee gives the nod for the move |
An expert from IIT Madras suggests the VMC to remove silt from the well
VMC officials contact New Delhi-based AIMIL
VIJAYAWADA: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation will bail out the
sand that accumulated in the collection well of the 10-MGD treatment
plant at Ramalingeswara Nagar on Monday. The corporation recently
received a letter from the expert committee that was constituted to look
into the problem of sinking of the collection well by one-and-half feet
on September 19. The corporation is planning to pump out the sand
manually, though there were proposals to utilise modern machinery. The
workers would reach the bottom of the well by using baskets and oxygen
cylinders for breathing. As the exact quantity of sand accumulated at
the bottom was not known, it was not possible to guesstimate how many
days it would take to complete the work, the officials concerned said on
Thursday. The experts suggested bailing out of the sand from the
collection well. Till date, there was a doubt that the pumping out of
the sand could further sink the collection well. Now that the experts
suggested bailing out of the sand, VMC officials believe there would be
no problem for the collection well.
It may be recalled that S. R. Gandhi, an expert from IIT Madras,
suggested that the VMC remove the silt from the well. He, however,
cautioned the VMC officials against emptying the well.
A team from the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT),
Chennai inspected the 10 MGD plant on October 13. But the team expressed
its helplessness in ascertaining whether there were any cracks in the
well and if sand had accumulated on the concrete ceiling of the
collection well.
Ultrasonic tests
Following the experts’ suggestion, the Vijayawada Municipal
Corporation officials contacted New Delhi-based instrumentation and
engineering company AIMIL some time ago for conducting ultrasonic/sonar
tests. The agency, sources said, had asked the officials to remove the
sand for conducting the tests. The Chennai team felt that an ultrasonic
test was necessary to ascertain the condition of the collection well.
The officials would be able to use the 180 HP motors only if the
strength of the concrete ceiling and collection well was established.
The sand accumulated has been posing a problem whenever 180 HP motors
were used to draw water from the well. The 180 HP motors at the plant
created tremors in the vicinity, and they pumped out sand along with
water. Subsequently, the Corporation relied on deep bore wells and water
tankers to maintain the regular level of supply of water to the people.
