The Hindu              26.12.2013

Corporation kick-starts process for Pilloor III water scheme

The Coimbatore Corporation has asked the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board to soon start the feasibility study for a dedicated drinking water supply scheme with Pilloor Dam as the source.

According to sources, the Coimbatore Corporation Council passed a resolution sometime ago for another drinking water supply scheme, saying it would need the scheme to meet the increasing population and the pace of growth the city has been witnessing.

During the passage of the resolution, Mayor S.M. Velusamy said that the civic body would seek the help of the State Government to finance the project.

And, the resolution said that the civic body should ask the TWAD Board to conduct a feasibility study.

Based on the resolution, the Corporation has asked the Board to conduct a feasibility study and the latter will soon begin the process.

Sources familiar with the water supply schemes said that the new scheme, tentatively called the Pilloor III scheme, would be a dedicated water supply for the Coimbatore Corporation, similar to the Pilloor II scheme.

In executing the scheme, the Corporation would have to have a separate tunnel to convey the water as the existing tunnel was utilised to the full because of the Pilloor I and Pilloor II schemes. Likewise, the civic body should also go in for a separate collection well.

The TWAD Board would consider these and many such aspects in conducting the feasibility study. And at the end of the study raised a demand from the civic body for paying the investigation charges.

The sources said that the Corporation had asked the TWAD Board to take the projected population in 2015 as the base year and look at the water requirements for people in 2045. The civic body would also need the project to continue its 24x7 drinking water supply scheme, under which it had promised to supply water 24 hours a day at 135 litres per capita a day.

At present, the Corporation has two drinking water supply projects that have Pilloor Dam as the source.

There is another project with River Bhavani as the source and the water supplied under this scheme caters to Kavundampalayam, Vadavalli and Veerakeralam.

The Corporation has another project with River Aliyar as the source. It uses the water to meet the requirements of Kurichi and Kuniamuthur.

This is in addition to the project with Siruvani as the source.