The Hindu 03.12.2013
Water supply may be restored today
Complete restoration of water supply in the city, which
was disrupted late on Saturday, is likely to happen only after midnight
on Monday.
Kerala Water Authority (KWA) officials
said the work on replacing the affected portions of the 1,200-mm
pre-stressed concrete transmission mainline at Aruvikkara, which had
burst around 9 p.m. on Saturday, was still on and was likely to be
completed around 9 p.m. on Monday. However, charging of the line and
complete restoration of water supply to all parts of the city may take a
few more hours. Alternative arrangements had been made, they said.
Supply
from the 86 million litres a day (MLD) plant of the KWA was affected by
the burst and the leak that was detected near the same spot on Sunday.
But
water supply was possible from two other plants there — the KWA’s
72-MLD plant and the 74-MLD JICA plant. Water from these plants was
diverted to cater to most parts of the city on Monday, Aruvikkara
executive engineer S. Santosh said. However, supply to several elevated
areas such as Sreekaryam, Powdikonam, and places under the Pongumoodu
sub-division remained affected on Monday, he said.
Meanwhile,
V. Sivankutty, MLA, demanded a Vigilance probe into the frequent
pipe-bursts in the city. In a statement, Mr. Sivankutty said the
pipe-bursts had become a daily affair, causing immense misery to the
public. There were reports that some KWA officials had joined hands with
contractors to siphon off crores of rupees.
Pointing
out that the water shortage due to Saturday’s pipe-burst was severe in
Peroorkada, Pattom, Sreekaryam, Mannanthala, Kesavadasapuram, Medical
College, and Vazhayila among others, he said no alternative arrangements
were made in these places.
