The Hindu 26.05.2010
Two zones in the city continue to reel under water shortage
Special Correspondent
| Councillors say there is no improvement despite lot of complaints |
COIMBATORE: Two zones of the Coimbatore Corporation – North and East – continue to reel under shortage of drinking water under the Pilloor scheme even as the civic body is trying to work within severe limitations to ensure there is no major inconvenience to the public.
But, councillors are upset over the situation and lament that there is no improvement despite a large number of them appealing for measures to tide over scarcity.
“There is no change in the situation. Most of the wards in my zone get water only once in 10 to 12 days,” North Zone Chairman and Communist Party of India (Marxist) member C. Padmanabhan said on Tuesday. The supply could be improved only if the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board ensures the full supply of 65 million litres a day (mld) of Pilloor water, he said.
Responding to the councillors' complaints, Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra said at the last Council meeting on Friday that the civic body could supply only that much quantity of water it got from the Pilloor Dam.
Besides, the Corporation could not do anything about the power cut or bursts and leaks in the main supply line.
East Zone Chairman and DMK member S.M. Samy said the imbalance in the allocation of lorry supply heaped further agony on the people. Of the four lorries for East Zone, two were under repair. The other two did not measure up to the requirement of supplying water whenever people needed it.
“Those who operated the lorries stuck to office timings and were not in tune with the ground reality,” Mr. Samy lamented.
Valve operators
In many areas in his zone, the supply control was in the hands of valve operators. They skipped the once-in-four-days schedule agreed upon in the Corporation to provide water to certain multi-storeyed apartments. As a result, the supply for others was hit, he alleged.
“There is none to control these operators and that is why we demanded that more junior engineers must be posted,” he said.
Leader of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in the Council P. Rajkumar said he mailed a petition to the Commissioner on Tuesday, calling for some immediate measures to improve the supply.
The situation had not improved despite the water issue having been discussed at an all-party meeting and also in the Council, he said. The following wards had been reeling under scarcity for many days: North Zone: 1, 2 , 3, 65, 66, 68, 69, 70, 71 and 72. East Zone: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 11.
Explaining the listing of the wards, the councillor said these areas, represented by members of almost all the parties, were severely affected. In some areas at Ganapathy Maanagar, only air came out of the taps and yet the water meter functioned.
“It is said that the main service reservoir on Sathyamangalam Road receives only 55 mld to 58 mld instead of 65 mld,” Mr. Rajkumar said.
The requirement of Pilloor water too had shot up by 50 per cent as supply lines had been provided to many newly layouts regularised.
24-hour distribution
Referring to the Corporation's assurance that supply would improve after the implementation of the Pilloor Phase II scheme and the 24-hour distribution it would facilitate, Mr. Rajkumar said the Corporation would have to re-work the supply quantum as the civic body was embarking on expanding the city area.
