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Water Supply

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

Tuesday, 25 May 2010 11:27 administrator
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Indian Express   25.05.2010

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 Tuesday, 25 May 2010 11:28
 

Borewells go dry, water crisis in east, west parts

Tuesday, 25 May 2010 10:46 administrator
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Deccan Chronicle      25.05.2010

Borewells go dry, water crisis in east, west parts

May 25th, 2010
DC Correspondent
Bengaluru, May 24: People of east and west Bengaluru may have to go for longer without adequate water as around 20 per cent of the borewells which were dug for their benefit, have not touched water.

BWSSB chairman P. B. Ramamurthy had announced that the agency would dig 500 borewells in the city in addition to the 400 borewells being drilled by the BBMP. But, unfortunately, a number of the borewells drilled by the

BWSSB have failed, despite the technical support taken from geologists

to assess the groundwater table, say water board sources. Most of the failed borewells were dug in K R Puram, Mahadevapura, and Benniganahalli.

To make matters worse the storage of the Tippagondanahalli (TG Halli) reservoir has dropped to a mere 14 ft which means the BWSSB will be able to pump water to the western parts of the city only till the month end, if the situation does not improve. T G Halli had a storage of 31 ft during the corresponding period last year.

People of east Bengaluru are also blaming leaking pipelines for the poor supply they are receiving from the BWSSB and claim that their complaints have been ignored.

BWSSB officers, however, say they have done whatever they could to help tide over the crisis, and only a good monsoon can rescue the parched areas of the city.

 

Water supply scheme hangs fire

Tuesday, 25 May 2010 06:11 administrator
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The Hindu       25.05.2010

Water supply scheme hangs fire

G. Mahadevan

Foundation stone for the Rs.21-crore scheme was laid in 2000

Tender document for awarding contract is ‘missing'

MLA hopes Cabinet approval will expedite work

Thiruvananthapuram: At a time when the Water Resources Department and the Kerala Water Authority are basking in the afterglow of the commissioning of the Japan International Cooperation Agency-aided scheme in the city, a 10-year-old water supply project, designed to provide water to eight panchayats adjoining the capital city, is fighting for life.

The latest hurdle in the path of the scheme is that a 1,000-page tender document for awarding a contract to lay a ‘reach' of the pumping main pipeline has gone ‘missing' from the Secretariat here.

It was in 2000 that the foundation stone for the Ayilamkadavu drinking water scheme was laid. The project was designed to generate 11 million litres of drinking water a day for five panchayats in Kazhakuttam, one in Attingal and two in Kilimanoor. The sanctioned outlay for the Centrally-funded scheme was Rs.21 crore.

The treatment plant at Velamkode was completed about four years ago and of the two reaches of the pumping main lines, one has been completed. Seven overhead storage reservoirs have been constructed. The pumps necessary for providing water to the treatment plant are in place. The entire distribution system is, however, yet to be laid.

Sources in the KWA said it would cost another Rs.20 crore for the scheme to be commissioned.

“I have spent the last 10 years running from pillar to post trying to get this scheme commissioned,” Kazhakuttam MLA M.A. Wahid told The Hindu. “It is sheer bureaucratic ineptitude on the part of the KWA that has stalled this scheme for a decade.”

The ‘misplaced' tender for Rs.11 crores had been cleared by the Chief Technical Examiner and was on its way to the empowered committee, headed by the Chief Secretary. That was in March. If the tender document is not found, the work may have to be re-tendered. This will only add to the delays bedevilling the scheme.

Mr. Wahid, though, says there is a ray of hope.

“Both the Finance Minister and the Minister for Water Resources have, I understand, asked the Chief Secretary to send the matter directly to the Cabinet. If the Cabinet approves this tender, then the work can be awarded. The actual laying of the pipelines will only take about three months,” he said.

The empowered committee is scheduled to meet on May 27 and expected to discuss the issue, he added.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 25 May 2010 06:12
 
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