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Water Supply

PMC refutes complaints of less water supply

Wednesday, 02 June 2010 06:55 administrator
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The Times of India     02.06.2010

PMC refutes complaints of less water supply

TNN, Jun 2, 2010, 06.11am IST
PUNE: Residents across the city have been lately complaining about restricted or low-pressure water supply in their respective areas. However, there has been no announcement to this effect from the water department of the Pune Municipal Corporation.

When contacted, Pramod Nirbhavne, head of water supply department, said normal quota of water was being supplied to all areas in the city. "There is no change in plans regarding water supply. Water is being supplied in full force to all areas, as of now. We are constantly in touch with the irrigation department and they haven't signalled us yet that there is less water in the dam. Only if the monsoon is delayed, then we will have to release water once a day," Nirbhavne said.

But citizens said there was certainly a drop in water supply, that too, in the absence of an official announcement. "Maybe, the civic officials want to be on the safe side by not making it public that less water was being supplied, but our area is certainly facing shortage of water. There is significant difference in the supply force during the evenings. The morning supply is fine," Sheetal Tambe, a resident of Aranyeshwar, told TOI.

Residents from Sahakarnagar, Bibvewadi, some peth areas, Sus, Kharadi, NIBM road and Bhosalenagar have been sending complaints to their ward offices. Navi Peth resident Girija Mhaskar said, the society tank, normally, gets filled with the evening-hour water supply, but water has been barely trickling into the tank for the last few days.

Residents of societies in Bhosalenagar, which are located at an elevation, have for days together been complaining to the PMC, but to no avail. "If there is a reduction in the water supply, we are the first ones to be affected just like it is happening now. All complaints to the civic body have fallen on deaf ears," said Nitin Suryavanshi, a resident of the area.

However, Nirbhavne maintained that all were just one-off cases and that there was no change in water supply.
 

Black water, part of monsoon blues

Wednesday, 02 June 2010 05:07 administrator
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The Hindu     02.06.2010

Black water, part of monsoon blues

Special Correspondent

Leachate pollutes water in Vattiyoorkavu

Corporation ready to pay for safe water

Leachate treatment unit a long way off

Thiruvananthapuram: For the past several years, residents of Vattiyoorkavu panchayat have lived in fear of the approaching monsoon. That is the time of the year when their water sources turn black with the increased leachate runoff from the City Corporation's garbage plant at Vilappilsala.

Due to this, the Kerala Water Authority shuts the pump house feeding water from the Meenampally canal, an upstream tributary of the Karamana River, to the distribution network. Most of the wells are also heavily polluted due to the mixture of rainwater and leachate.

This year is no different. The heavy pre-monsoon showers brought misery to hundreds of families, as the leachate flow polluted the river water and wells.

“It is difficult to control the leachate flow during the rainy season,” says Babu Ambatt, executive director of the Centre for Environment Development (CED), the agency that manages the garbage plant along with the Corporation.

The soak pits dug by the Corporation to provide a natural land filter for the leachate provided only a temporary solution. The construction of a leachate treatment unit that would have checked the pollution at source is nowhere near completion. Under the Rs.1.25-crore project, leachate from the accumulated waste will be collected in tanks, recycled in an oxidation plant and used for garbage treatment.

Design problems

The private contractor who was awarded the construction stopped work last November citing design problems. Though the work was recently resumed, the commissioning of the unit that was scheduled to go on stream by mid May is now likely to take another eight months.

Officials feel that the Corporation could have expedited the work. “Money is not a problem. In December 2008, the Corporation received Rs.34 crore from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) as assistance for solid waste management. The design flaw could have been sorted out in days but it has already taken months,” an official said.

Vattiyoorkavu panchayat president Pazhaniya Pillai said disruption of water supply, due to pollution of river water, made life miserable for the residents. The JICA-assisted water supply scheme that was commissioned this year held out the promise of uninterrupted water supply from an alternate source. But residents in the Malamugal, Mulavukad and Kachani found their hopes dashed because the overhead reservoir supplying water to the network of pipes was not of the required height.

“The solution is to use the old reservoir that is built at a higher level but that will require installation of pumps to raise the water from the new tank. The panchayat does not have the funds for the work,” he said.

Solution emerges

Last week, in a bid to sort out the issue, Mr. Pillai held discussions with Mayor C. Jayan Babu and officials from the Corporation and KWA. Chairman of the Corporation's standing committee on Health G.R. Anil said the Corporation had expressed willingness to foot the financial expense for supply of safe drinking water in the suburban village. “We have decided to seek government approval to sanction the amount,” he said.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 02 June 2010 05:10
 

Without water for a week, slum dwellers protest outside MC office

Wednesday, 26 May 2010 11:36 administrator
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Indian Express   26.05.2010

Without water for a week, slum dwellers protest outside MC office

Express News Service Tags : protest, water Posted: Tue May 25 2010, 03:21 hrs

Ludhiana:  The residents of Jamuna Colony on the Pakhowal Road, one of the largest slum dwellings of the city, staged a dharna outside the Zone D office of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation on Monday. The residents, a majority of women, were protesting against the absence of water supply in the area for a week.

The dwelling consists of over 500 jhuggis with the population of over 5,000. Ahead of elections, politicians visit the area and promise the gullible residents the moon but civic amenities in the area speak volumes about the promises kept.

Vimal Devi a resident of the slum, said, “Earlier we used to fetch water from canal flowing next to our colony. However, water supply in the canal has been shut down for almost a week and we do not have a drop of water to drink or wash.”

All-India Valmiki Jatti Sewak Sangh senior vice-president R S Parmar said, “The MC boasts of providing 100 per cent drinking water supply in the city but in this colony residents do not have a drop to drink. With the rising temperature, this might result in the outbreak of an epidemic.”

The protestors demanded to meet Mayor Hakam Singh Gill or Commissioner A K Sinha. However, both officials were not in the town. A battery of LMC officials assured the protestors that necessary action would be taken to restore water supply in the area.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 26 May 2010 11:37
 
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