The Hindu 30.09.2009
Centralised system for new water connections soon
Staff Reporter
| Task force to check pilferage of water in city |
— Photo: Vipin Chandran 
essential resource: Water Resources Minister N.K. Premachandran inaugurating the drinking water supply scheme for Thripunithura municipality and nearby areas on Tuesday.
KOCHI: A centralised system for sanctioning new water connections and preventing unauthorised water tapping or connections would be put in place in three months, said N.K. Premachandran, Minister for Water Resources, here on Tuesday.
Speaking at a function to commission the Kerala Water Authority’s Choondi scheme that benefits Thripunithura and nearby areas, Mr. Premachandran said that as the demand for water is increasing day-by-day, a centralised system would help sanction a connection within a few days, if it is technically feasible.
In a major people-friendly measure by the KWA, all the offices would have a front desk from October 3 to address customers’ queries and receive their complaints, he said.
One of the serious concerns of the KWA is the rampant misuse of water and unauthorised connections. A task force would be formed to carry out a drive to check pilferage in the Kochi Corporation and suburban areas, he said.
He said KWA has embarked on a Rs. 2,000-crore plan with 180 new projects. The key would be to complete them all in a time-bound manner. All these projects enjoying Plan support funds are slated to be completed by 2010-11, he said.
Even as a portion of the Choondi scheme is yet to be completed, the full scheme of 46 million litres of water would be completed by mid-2010. The delay in a tank construction for servicing Chottanikkara, Thiruvamkulam and Udayamperoor panchayats is the last leg of the scheme, for which work could be started only recently.
The scheme provides 18.37 mld (million litres per day) of water to Thripunithura alone, solving one of the long-standing demands of the water-scarce area. Till the Choondi scheme started the trial run a month ago, the area was getting only 4.5 mld of water that would not meet even 40 per cent of the demand.
The scheme provides water also to Kumbalangi, Chellanam, Mulavukad besides some areas in the Kochi Corporation, said K. V. Thomas, Union Minister for Agriculture, who was the chief guest on the occasion and inaugurated the function.
K. Babu, MLA presided. M. M. Monayee, MLA; T.M. Jacob, former Minister for Water Resources; Renjini Suresh, chairperson, Thripunithura Municipal Council; B.S. Nandanan, vice-chairman; R. Venugopal, Opposition leader of Thripunithura Municipal Council and panchayat presidents of the neighbouring area were among those who participated. KWA managing director Susan Jacob welcomed the gathering and Sreekumaran Nair, superintending engineer, read out the report on the scheme.
