The Hindu    20.08.2012

Tuticorin residents reel under severe drinking water crisis

Residents of Tuticorin are feeling hot and thirsty sans
drinking water supply, which is accessible only once in eight days and
beyond in some tail-end localities.

Tuticorin
Corporation has been facing an unprecedentedly serious crisis of
drinking water in the recent past. With water scarcity looming large,
residents have no alternative but to drink boiled borewell water.
Anticipating water supply, people even skip their regular work and stay
put at their houses to pump the drinking water, said M.S. Muthu, town
secretary, DYFI, here on Sunday.

Residents of
Toovipuram could not get water for nine consecutive days, he said.
Despite growing water scarcity, water was supplied to industries. The
industrialists must be insisted on establishing desalination plants to
convert sea water in to potable water and the authorities concerned had
to enforce the regulation to be followed. If such a measure was adopted,
people would be relieved of the water scarcity, he said.

Commissioner
of Corporation S. Madhumathi said that due to low level of water at
Tamirabarani, unusually, it would be possible to supply water once in
eight days and she had appealed to the residents to use water
judiciously.

Other sources from corporation said that
the daily requirement of drinking water was 26 million litres but only
around 13 million litres of water was available. Since water level in
Papanasam dam had risen to 38.15 feet against the storage of 33.15 feet a
couple of days ago, chances brightened for Tuticorin residents to get
water.

Minister for Labour Welfare S.T. Chellapandian
inspected Vallanad Water Headworks on Saturday and sought the
intervention of public works department authorities to release 500
cusecs of water from the Papanasam dam to solve the crisis. The problem
would be solved once the required amount of water is released. Besides, a
proposal for implementing the fourth water pipeline at an estimated
cost of Rs.222.86 crore had been forwarded to government. Once
administrative sanction was accorded, the project would be executed on a
48 kilometre stretch to supply 97 million litres of water per day to
the residents of 60 wards. With three pipe lines in existence, the
supplying capacity was 25 MLD, sources added.

With
incorporation of five additional panchayats in Tuticorin Corporation,
the population of the town has increased to 3.90 lakh from 2.40 lakh.
Twenty wards included from the incorporated panchayats were the
tail-enders who could get water from public taps.