The Hindu 28.02.2013
Relief, as water supply is restored
A small leak in a repaired joint to be temporarily plugged.
More than 48 hours after a 1,000-mm pipeline bringing
water from Aruvikkara to Vellayambalam burst at four places on Monday,
personnel of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) on Wednesday night
restored supply of water on the line. However, normal supply of water to
parts of the city is expected to be restored only by late Thursday
morning. Even though supply on the line was restored by 8 p.m. on
Wednesday, a small leak in a repaired joint continues to be a source of
worry.
“We have decided to temporarily plug this
dripping and go ahead with charging the line. This can be repaired later
during an announced shutdown,” a KWA engineer said. It was unlikely
that the dripping would lead to another burst, he said. The completion
of the repair was delayed considerably following the discovery of damage
in a section of the pipeline adjacent to the spot where the line burst
at a point on the Peroorkada-Vazhayila road.
Faced
with shortage of water tankers to supply water to different parts of the
city, District Collector K.N. Satheesh on Wednesday morning ordered the
seizure of all private tankers in the city for use by the government.
Assistant
Commissioner, Excise, N.S. Suresh, whose father is said to own a
private tanker service, was arrested by a team of police led by
Peroorkada Circle Inspector Ashokan when he attempted to resist the
seizure of 10 tankers run by the agency. A case has been registered at
the Peroorkada police station against him.
KWA
officials said 103 tanker-loads of water were supplied from the KWA’s
filling points at Vellayambalam and PTP Nagar as of 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
Almost as many tanker-loads were supplied from Aruvikkara, the KWA
officials said. However, there were places where the tanker lorries did
not reach. For instance, a doctor at a private hospital in the General
Hospital area told
The Hindu
that repeated calls to the helpline numbers published by the KWA did not
elicit any response. A couple of helpline numbers were continuously
switched off, he said.
