The Hindu 03.02.2014
City’s water supply backbone gets makeover
After several years, a damaged conduit pipeline, the
backbone of Chennai’s drinking water distribution network, is being
reconstructed.
Three pipelines, ten km long, carry
water from the Red Hills reservoir to be treated at Kilpauk Water Works
before being distributed to one-third of the city’s population. The
pipelines laid at various point of time by Chennai Metrowater are some
of the earliest infrastructure used to supply drinking water to the
city.
Metrowater officials said the earliest among
the three huge conduit lines, constructed with brick masonry by the
British in 1914, is still in use. The most recently-built of the
pipelines, constructed in 1986, collapsed nearly a decade ago and is
currently being repaired. The other two lines continue to be used to
transmit up to 270 million litres a day.
In a bid to
strengthen the conduit, Metrowater has initiated a Rs. 39.20-crore
project to replace the damaged brick masonry structure with a concrete
structure. Of the total distance of 10 km, the water agency is carrying
out work on a five-km stretch from the intake tower of Red Hills
reservoir near Surapet to Rajamangalam as it is free of encroachments.
It
is being constructed as a twin channel to regulate water distribution.
As the huge pipelines run underground with only its brick arches or
inspection chambers visible at some points, they are more prone to
encroachments. The water agency plans to intensify patrolling to prevent
further encroachments. The work is set to be completed by March next
year, said sources in Metrowater.
The Rs. 39.20-cr. project will see brick masonry replaced with concrete.
