Water supply to the low-lying areas of the city was restored to normal by Sunday morning after a  pipe-burst the previous day had flooded the Power House Road near Kripa theatre here.

 “The repair works took all day, but was completed by 10 pm on Saturday and water supply restored,” said an assistant executive engineer with the Kerala Water Authority (KWA).

 The ruptured pipeline was a 500-mm high density polyethylene pipe, around 40 years old, which carries water from the Vellayambalam treatment plant to Manacaud region and beyond to the coastal side. The areas worst hit were Manacaud, Kamaleshwaram, Poonthura, Valiathura, Beemapally and Kovalam. 

 The crack in the pipeline and its consequent repair works had disrupted traffic along the Power House road for hours on Saturday.

 The city, no stranger to water pipe-bursts, has witnessed many of them owing to its aging pipeline network. A recent pilot survey on a part of the city’s pipeline network showed heavy tuberculation (development of small mounds of corrosion particles formed over time on the inside of pipes) in them. This, officials have said, not only affects the structural integrity of the pipe but also reduces water flow in it.