Kochi: While most of the areas in West Kochi and suburban areas are reeling under acute drinking water scarcity, a major drinking water project which was expected to be commissioned by this month is stuck midway.

Though minister K. Babu announced earlier this year that Piravom project, which is expected to bring 100 MLD water to the parched areas of West Kochi, would be commissioned by December, works are still lagging behind. If the current progress is any indication, the project can be completed only by March.

A major hurdle that delayed timely completion of the project was the insistence of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) on the restoration of NH 47 and its service road after laying the pipeline.

Though NHAI earlier gave the clearance for road cutting, the Authority demanded restoration of road using highly expensive materials. For the Kerala Water Authority, which is carrying out the project, restoring the road to NHAI’s high specification was not feasible.

To resolve the issue, Minister for Water Resources P.J Joseph convened a high level meeting last week in which the NHAI accepted the usual road restoration process.

The minister also asked the district collector to ensure immediate restoration of trenched roads after laying pipes. During the meeting, Minister Anoop Jacob raised the issue of the public agitation against delay in restoring roads dug for the project.

“Since the NHAI has agreed to relax their demand for expensive road restoration, road cutting works can start soon. It is expected that the project will not be delayed beyond March,” said corporation works committee chairperson Soumini Jain, who attended the high level meeting.

Though more than 70 per cent of the pipe-laying works have been completed, the KWA is yet to complete the tendering process for purchasing pipelines to finish the project.
The project, which was supposed to be completed by March 2012, was initially delayed due to opposition from the local people against digging up of the roads.

Bangalore: In its drive against public nuisance caused by littering, the BBMP has over a period of two months collected close to Rs 10.4 lakh penalty under the provisions of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Rules 2012.

BBMP Joint Commissioner (Health and solid waste management) K. C. Yatish Kumar said on the spot penalty is being levied and receipts are issued, on the same lines as traffic violations. As per the new MSW rules, BBMP engineers are empowered by law to penalise those causing public nuisance such as spitting, urinating and littering in public.

Yatish Kumar said as of now bulk generators and garbage contractors are the main focus. Individual violators will be fine in the days to come. The BBMP is also empowered to levy penalty against households for failing to segregate waste, he added.

The Palike needs dedicated environment engineers and they should be assigned with specific tasks. Each ward must have assistant engineers and each zone must have executive engineers, reporting to joint commissioner on the status, he said.

However, sources said that for a city like Bengaluru, which has nearly one crore population, the enforcement of MSW rules is poor. They point out that the total fine collected for littering in last two months compares poorly with fines collected for traffic violations.

BBMP authorities should be equipped with gadgets such as BlackBerry and cameras to nab and penalise violators with evidence.

Installing CCTV cameras in commercial areas will help zeroing in on bulk offenders and thereby prevent indiscriminate dumping of garbage. CCTV cameras near lakes will also help prevent littering, sources added.