The Hindu 15.10.2014
Water supply likely to be restored today
Authorities readying 24 generators at various pumping stations
Due to lack of power, residents are back to the old hand pumps for water
in the aftermath of cyclone Hudhud in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.— Photo:
C. V. SUBRAHMANYAM
With supply by tankers inadequate and citizens having to
struggle to get water for the second day running in the aftermath of
Cyclone Hudhud, GVMC is getting its act together. Officials hope that by
Wednesday morning normal supply to households will be restored.
“We
are readying a total of 24 generators of 750 KVa and 500 KVa capacities
at various pumping stations. There is every possibility of EPDCL
restoring power supply at Narava filtering station and Thatipudi
reservoir. With these arrangements in place we are confident that water
supply can be restored by Wednesday morning,” Principal Secretary
(Municipal Administration and Urban Development) and Special Officer of
GVMC D. Sambasiva Rao told
The Hindu
. The generators will be installed at Gosthani, Krishnapuram and other
areas to pump water. There is no dearth of funds and so far Rs.3.5 crore
has been released.
With 182 trips of water tankers
on Monday, the supply was hardly adequate to meet the demand. On
Tuesday, the trips will be increased to 400. Priority is given to slums
and hilly areas. However, with uprooted trees and electric poles it is
difficult to reach the areas and power saws are limited in number. A
total of 5,000 workers are pressed into service for various
cyclone-related work. Besides, auto rickshaws are also carrying water
from the municipal service reservoir. The Visakhapatnam Port Trust has
offered four tankers of 6,000-litre capacity to enable GVMC store
diesel.
With no municipal water supply people are
queuing up at manual bore wells to get water where it’s a long wait to
get water. However, the increase in groundwater levels has made getting
water easy.
Mobile gen-sets
With
no power and most of the residents dependent on borewell supply, in
some areas mobile generators are brought to the doorstep of residents.
An exorbitant Re.1 per litre is charged to pump water to the tanks.
