The laying of the new 1,219-mm main pipeline to replace the old,
leak-plagued one, will be completed by the first week of July, Water
Resources Minister P J Joseph said on Wednesday.

The KWA also has
announced that the work will, in all likelihood, be completed well ahead
of the September deadline, the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) said on
Wednesday.

 The pipe is being laid from Aruvikkara, where the KWA
pumping station is, to Peroorkada in the city. So far, the mild-steel
(MS) pipe has been laid over 3.5 km, KWA Chief Engineer (distribution –
south) Sreekumaran Nair said. The water utility has time till September 4
this year to complete the work, but it should be completed well ahead
of the deadline as the work is progressing – including the water and air
tests – fast, he said.

 There were reports that the project could
be delayed, which prompted the KWA to come out with a clarification on
Wednesday to ‘allay the fears’ of the public, the KWA said.

 The
work has been awarded to M/s Laxmi Civil Engineering Service Pvt Ltd and
the pipes are being supplied by Jindal SAW, the KWA said. 

In
addition to quality checks by the company, the KWA also has entrusted
ITENG Engineering, Mumbai, to conduct the checks as prescribed by ISI.
The tenders for the project were invited on the advice of WASCON, the
design unit of KWA, as per guidelines set by the CPHEEO Manual, KWA
officials said.

 The MS pipe will be laid for a total of 9.695
kilometres to replace the old pre-stressed concrete pipeline on which
the city depends for drinking water.

 The new pipeline is expected
to solve the water supply woes of the capital city, which has been
affected on multiple occasions in the past few months owing to leaks
developing on the existing concrete pipeline.

In fact, the government has also announced a project to replace all the old pipelines within the capital city also.