Kochi: State Water Resources Minister P.J. Joseph accompanied by additional chief secretary V.J. Kurien on Thursday stepped in, in an effort to put an end to the drinking water woes plaguing the district on account of two pipe bursts in a span of two weeks. The pipe bursts are yet to be plugged.

After holding a two-hour meeting with officials of the Kerala Water Authority and district administration including District Collector P.I. Sheik Pareeth in the presence of MLAs Hibi Eden, Dominic Presentation and Benny Behnan and Kochi Mayor Tony Chammany, the Minister promised that the issue would be resolved in 24 hours.

The pipe bursts at Aroor and Kumbalam toll plaza left areas under Maradu Municipality, Kumbalam, Kumbalanghi and Chellanam without drinking water supply forcing restive people to take their protests to the streets on Thursday. This forced officials and the people’s representatives to call an emergency meeting at the Ernakulam guest house.

The Minister said that stronger DI pipes which can withstand the load of heavy vehicles would be installed on the national highway. “The crack developed at Kumbalam because the old type of pipe could not withstand the weight of heavy vehicles which began passing through the road in recent times. We will replace them,” he said.

He said a KWA team will study Ernakulam’s water woes and submit a report in 10 days and action would be initiated based on that. He said that in areas where old pipes were laid, a parallel network with DI pipes would be laid.

A Rs 900-crore project too is in the pipeline to end the drinking water woes of Ernakulam. The JNNURM drinking water project which would be commissioned in December would be able to solve the issue to a great extent, the Minister added.