Thiruvananthapuram: The
Kerala Water Authority  has decided to retender the ambitious packaged
drinking water project at Aruvikkara, which aims at mobilising more
funds for the authority. Minister for Water Resources P.J. Joseph told Deccan Chronicle that the government will  implement the project in a time-bound manner.

“We attempted to tender the project recently, but the amount quoted by the company was more than 300 percent of the actual cost. Hence we have decided to re-tender it,” he said. Now
the KWA  board has decided to engage KITCO Ltd to revise the detailed
project report (DPR) of the scheme, which was announced by the ministry
for water resources back in 2006.

Former
water resources minister N.K. Premachandran told Deccan Chronicle that
the current government lacks interest in implementing the project. “The
government is trying to weaken KWA by delaying the implementation of
such a project, which can bring revenue to the authority,” he said.

As per the current schedule, the project is estimated to cost around Rs 10 crore. The plan is to set up a plant with a capacity of producing 7,500 litres per hour.  The product would be sold at a reasonable rate unlike other brands.