KOCHI: This should spark a water riot. Proving once again the inefficiency of government agencies, the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) has confessed to an astonishing 25% annual loss in water supplied to the city, with frequent pipe bursts and leakages accounting for the major chunk.

And what’s more, the agency is sitting on a proposal to replace old
pipelines with new ones for the last five years even as the city reels
under water shortage in one of the hottest summers. With pipe bursts
becoming a routine affair, authorities are still clueless on finding a
permanent solution to the issue.

According to KWA officials,
the agency supplies a total of 87,600 million litres to the city
annually. From this, annual transmission loss accounts for nearly 21,900
million litres.

The decision to replace old pipelines in the city was taken in 2008 at a meeting chaired by the then water resources minister N K Premachandran.
But except for a 500-metre stretch on the Palarivattom-Thammanam route,
KWA has not replaced pipelines on the Pulleppady-Kathrikkadavu,
Kathrikkadavu-Kaloor and Changampuzha Park-Cheraneloor stretches.

“Existing pipelines are made of concrete-primo pipes which are more
than 40 years old. These pipes cannot withstand pressure and has a life
of about 30 years. So replacing these pipes with DI (ductile iron) pipes
is the only lasting solution,” a KWA official said.

Even on
the Palarivattom-Thammanam stretch, KWA abandoned the project midway
citing inadequate width of the road. The stretch had experienced
frequent pipe bursts which resulted in traffic bottlenecks and
accidents. In 2008, a motorcyclist lost his life after falling into a
pit formed after a pipe burst.

“We could complete only 500
metres out of the planned 1,750 metres. We had to wind up the Rs 4-crore
project as the road lacked the necessary width,” an official said.

Meanwhile, for replacing pipes on the Kaloor-Kathrikkadavu stretch,
authorities have not even prepared a project report. Pipe bursts are a
regular affair on this road with the last such incident reported on
Vishu eve in the St Francis Xavier Convent area.

According to officials, the road is congested with various pipes and
cables running under it. KWA’s 500 mm pipeline runs through the middle
of the road. On the left side, BSNL
has laid 14 four-inch pipes for various cables, including optical fibre
cables. On the right, KWA has laid a 300 mm pipeline. So, KWA is unable
to lay the new DI pipeline through the old Kaloor-Kathrikkadavu road.

“The only solution is to lay the new pipeline through the
Kaloor-Kadavanthra road. But the Greater Cochin Development Authority
(GCDA) had relaid the road a few years back under the five-year
guarantee scheme. So, they won’t allow us to dig up the road. So, we are
caught in a bind on what to do,” said Varghese Samuel, executive
engineer, KWA.