The Hindu 28.03.2013
The wait for Siruvani water to continue

With water level going below the dead storage level, efforts are on to tap the remaining water in the Siruvani Dam.
Those dependent on Siruvani water supply in the city
will have to wait till the engineers of the Kerala Water Authority get
the concurrence of their Government to accede to the request of the
Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board to draw water below the dead
storage from the Siruvani Dam.
When the TWAD Board
and Coimbatore Corporation engineers raised the issue with the Kerala
engineers in Palakkad on Monday, the latter reportedly said that at
present they could continue drawing water till the storage reached 862.5
m (mean sea level).
The dead storage level is 863.4 m.
With the current storage level being 863.1, the TWAD Board has 1.96 feet water for supply to the Coimbatore Corporation.
The civic body on Monday received 21.50 million litres.
TWAD
Board and Corporation sources said that they had asked the Kerala
engineers to let them draw water till the water level in the Dam reached
858.5 m so that the residents of the 12 Siruvani-fed Wards in the
Coimbatore Corporation did not suffer.
The Board’s
Chief Engineer Nagarajan, Superintending Engineer Balakumar and
Assistant Executive Engineer S. Sampathkumar participated in the
meeting.
Difficulty
The
engineers along with the Coimbatore Corporation’s Executive Engineer K.
Sugumar and Assistant Executive Engineer Gnanavel explained the
difficulty they faced in supplying Siruvani water.
Chief Engineers Lathika and Radhamani represented the Kerala Water Authority.
Of the 100 Wards in the Coimbatore Corporation, only 12 are completely dependent on Siruvani water.
For
a few other Wards, the Corporation by linking Pilloor and Siruvani
water supply network, had arranged for Pilloor waters upply.
Efforts are on to divert Aliyar and Pilloor water to three of the 12 Siruvani-dependent Wards.
Commissioner G. Latha told reporters that work was on to provide Aliyar water to Wards 89 and 90 and Pilloor water to Ward 14.
For
the remaining nine Wards, the civic body had decided to micro-manage
the water supply by closing valves to pump water to tans in elevated
areas and then distribute the same.
In doing so, she had asked the ward engineer concerned to coordinate with the Councillor and also valve operators.
And
through the Councillor, the civic body would keep the people public
informed about the water supply schedule in the nine wards – Wards 15,
18, 19, 20, 21, 76, 77, 78, and 79.
As part of the efforts to ease the pressure on water supply situation,
The Corporation would also dig sink bore wells and repair motors that were not functioning.