The Hindu 03.12.2013
Water supply may be restored today
Complete restoration of water supply in the city, which was disrupted late on Saturday, is likely to happen only after midnight on Monday.
Kerala Water Authority (KWA) officials said the work on replacing the affected portions of the 1,200-mm pre-stressed concrete transmission mainline at Aruvikkara, which had burst around 9 p.m. on Saturday, was still on and was likely to be completed around 9 p.m. on Monday. However, charging of the line and complete restoration of water supply to all parts of the city may take a few more hours. Alternative arrangements had been made, they said.
Supply from the 86 million litres a day (MLD) plant of the KWA was affected by the burst and the leak that was detected near the same spot on Sunday.
But water supply was possible from two other plants there — the KWA’s 72-MLD plant and the 74-MLD JICA plant. Water from these plants was diverted to cater to most parts of the city on Monday, Aruvikkara executive engineer S. Santosh said. However, supply to several elevated areas such as Sreekaryam, Powdikonam, and places under the Pongumoodu sub-division remained affected on Monday, he said.
Meanwhile, V. Sivankutty, MLA, demanded a Vigilance probe into the frequent pipe-bursts in the city. In a statement, Mr. Sivankutty said the pipe-bursts had become a daily affair, causing immense misery to the public. There were reports that some KWA officials had joined hands with contractors to siphon off crores of rupees.
Pointing out that the water shortage due to Saturday’s pipe-burst was severe in Peroorkada, Pattom, Sreekaryam, Mannanthala, Kesavadasapuram, Medical College, and Vazhayila among others, he said no alternative arrangements were made in these places.
