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Water Supply

Intensive drive to solve drinking water shortage

Tuesday, 23 April 2013 04:47 administrator
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The Hindu                  23.04.2013

Intensive drive to solve drinking water shortage

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said that a year-long programme will be implemented to increase water availability and ensure the quality of water.

Top priority

Addressing a meeting at the district collectorate here on Monday to review the drought relief measures being undertaken by the district administration, Mr. Chandy said that projects like construction of check dams and rain water harvesting units and purification of water in ponds and stone quarries will be given priority by the State government.

Instructions had been given to convene Assembly constituency-level meetings from Wednesday to resolve drinking water shortage. Senior officials authorised by the district collector should attend such meetings.

The Kerala State Electricity Board had been asked to draw dedicated lines to ensure pumping from sources with ready availability of water. Disconnection of power connection to any drinking water project on account of pending dues should be restored on Tuesday, Mr. Chandy said.

Stringent action

Steps will be taken to replace faulty motors in minor irrigation projects. Two squads centred in Ernakulam and Muvattupuzha will be deployed to check water theft and stringent action will be taken against the guilty.

Administrative sanction had been given to 547 emergency projects worth Rs. 12.38 crore in the district. Of this, 80 per cent will be completed at the earliest. These projects are expected to resolve the drinking water shortage in the district to a great extent.

Mr. Chandy directed convening of a meeting of MLAs and Kerala Water Authority officials to resolve the issues related to drinking water projects in Mulavoor, Asamannoor, and Prayipra regions.

The Chief Minister asked the KWA to ensure supply of more water in Kannamaly regions on alternate days. The arrangement will continue till the completion of the JNNURM project. Water brought in tankers will be distributed through pipelines. The entire cost of this arrangement will be borne by the State government. Earlier, the Chief Minister visited the water-starved areas of Kannamaly.

Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash said that shortcomings in the implementation of drought relief projects will be addressed immediately.

Water Resources Minister P.J. Joseph said that availability of funds was not an issue for the implementation of projects. The State government had decided to pay Rs. 50,000 in advance to grama panchayats. The rest of the funds would be given as soon as the allocation is used up. The minister also asked department officials to ensure the cleanliness of water sources.

Call for funds

Benny Behanan, MLA, demanded more funds for drought relief works in the district and its utilization should be under the supervision of the Sub-Collector. Dominic Presentation, MLA, said that allocation of Rs. 38 crore under JNNURM will help resolve the water scarcity in western Kochi regions.

S. Sarma, MLA, called for immediate completion of the pipe network connecting the pumping line in Paravur with various areas in Vypeen.

V.D. Satheeshan, MLA, called for the efficient utilisation of funds allocated for drought relief works.

 

City to get more borewells

Saturday, 20 April 2013 12:03 administrator
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The Times of India                20.04.2013

City to get more borewells

HYDERABAD: The protests of the city legislators at the recent meeting of the Hyderabad district review committee on the drinking water crisis appears to have paid off. Following their protests, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) has decided to dig fresh power bore wells in all the 15 assembly constituencies in Hyderabad at a cost of Rs 6 crore.

The Water Board has decided to go ahead with the move, perhaps due to the pressure from the elected representatives, despite the fact that the ground water table in Hyderabad heavily discourages digging of borewells. Of the 5,600 hand bore wells in the Greater Hyderabad region, 1,200 have gone kaput as the groundwater levels plummeted. Of the 1,000 power bore wells, 250 are not functional.

In view of the depleting ground water table, it might be necessary to dig around 1,000 feet deeper in some places in order to draw water. At the recent DRC meeting, Hyderabad collector Syed Murtuza Rizvi had said that the authorities might need to dig up to 800 feet in some places to draw water in view of the drinking water crisis.

"The MLAs have been requested to identify about 10 such spots in each of their constituencies where power bore wells will be dug. The Hyderabad Water Board will spend Rs 6 crore for the same. In a day or two, we will invite tenders for digging 150 new power bore wells in the city assembly constituencies," HMWS&SB director of operations P Manohar Babu told TOI.

The new power bore wells should be ready by May first week, the official added.
Last Updated on Saturday, 20 April 2013 12:10
 

Stress on protecting drinking water sources

Saturday, 20 April 2013 05:23 administrator
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The Hindu                20.04.2013

Stress on protecting drinking water sources

State of water affairs:Chief Minister Oommen Chandy addressing a review meeting on drought relief measures at the Palakkad Collectorate on Friday. Minister for Water Resources P.J. Joseph and Minister for Tourism A.P. Anil Kumar are also seen.
State of water affairs:Chief Minister Oommen Chandy addressing a review meeting on drought relief measures at the Palakkad Collectorate on Friday. Minister for Water Resources P.J. Joseph and Minister for Tourism A.P. Anil Kumar are also seen.

192 ponds to be restored in Palakkad.

Minister for Water Resources P.J. Joseph has said that schemes have been drawn up to renovate 192 ponds in the district on a war footing.

He was addressing a review meeting, attended by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, on drought-relief measures in the district at the Collectorate conference hall here on Friday.

Mr. Joseph said that more check-dams would be built on rivers, particularly on the Bharathapuzha, to preserve drinking water sources.

Officials of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) told the meeting that of the 110 drinking water schemes in the district, 105 were affected by shortage of water for pumping as they were based on surface water.

If two more regulators like the one at Chamravattom were constructed at Shoranur and Ottapalam on the Bharathapuzha, the water shortage could be solved to a great extent, C.P. Mohammed, MLA, said.

M. Hamsa, MLA, demanded the completion of the Shoranur check-dam taken up three years ago.

P.K. Biju, MP, alleged that though an amount of Rs.1.2 crore was sanctioned from the MPs Local Area Development Fund for drinking water projects, these had not been implemented. Demanding urgent steps to provide drinking water in Attappady, which has been severely affected by the drought, M.B. Rajesh, MP, said that tribal children there were dying of malnutrition and anaemia, and the government machinery had failed to provide relief to them.

K.S. Saleekha, MLA, demanded the release of water from the Kanjirapuzha dam for providing water to drinking water sources in the downstream areas.

Aid sought

K.V. Vijayadas, MLA, demanded Rs.10,000 in compensation for one acre of paddy destroyed owing to the drought, as had been given by the Tamil Nadu government to farmers in that State.

V. Chenthamarakshan, MLA, urged the Chief Minister to take steps to get water released from the inter-State Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP) by Tamil Nadu to the Chitturpuzha to provide drinking water in Chittur taluk. M. Chandran, MLA, urged the Chief Minister get the much-delayed Palakapandi irrigation project completed to provide water in the Nemmara and Ayilur areas.

Dam de-silting

The demand for desilting the Malampuzha dam to allow storage of more water in the reservoir for use during the summer months was raised by Shafi Parambil, MLA.

V.T. Balram, MLA, demanded more check-dams on the Bharathapuzha to conserve water for use in the summer months, and to protect drinking water pumping sources. All ongoing drinking water projects to be completed on a war-footing, A.K. Balan, MLA, said. He wanted long-term projects to be taken up to tackle the problem of frequent drought.

K. Achuthan, MLA, wanted the renovation of all ponds before the monsoon rains.

The meeting was attended by Minister for Tourism A.P. Anil Kumar; District Collector P.M. Ali Asgar Pasha; district panchayat president T.N. Khandamuthan; Palakkad municipal chairman Abdul Khudoose; Shoranur municipal chairman M.R. Murali; and officials of various departments and local bodies.

 
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