Kochi: State
Water Resources Minister P.J. Joseph accompanied by additional chief
secretary V.J. Kurien on Thursday stepped in, in an effort to put an end
to the drinking water woes plaguing the district on account of two pipe
bursts in a span of two weeks. The pipe bursts are yet to be plugged.

After
holding a two-hour meeting with officials of the Kerala Water Authority
and district administration including District Collector P.I. Sheik
Pareeth in the presence of MLAs Hibi Eden, Dominic Presentation and
Benny Behnan and Kochi Mayor Tony Chammany, the Minister promised that
the issue would be resolved in 24 hours.

The pipe bursts at Aroor
and Kumbalam toll plaza left areas under Maradu Municipality, Kumbalam,
Kumbalanghi and Chellanam without drinking water supply forcing restive
people to take their protests to the streets on Thursday. This forced
officials and the people’s representatives to call an emergency meeting
at the Ernakulam guest house.

The
Minister said that stronger DI pipes which can withstand the load of
heavy vehicles would be installed on the national highway. “The crack
developed at Kumbalam because the old type of pipe could not withstand
the weight of heavy vehicles which began passing through the road in
recent times. We will replace them,” he said.

He said a KWA
team will study Ernakulam’s water woes and submit a report in 10 days
and action would be initiated based on that. He said that in areas where
old pipes were laid, a parallel network with DI pipes would be laid.

A
Rs 900-crore project too is in the pipeline to end the drinking water
woes of Ernakulam. The JNNURM drinking water project which would be
commissioned in December would be able to solve the issue to a great
extent, the Minister added.