Water supply to the low-lying areas of the city was restored to
normal by Sunday morning after a pipe-burst the previous day had
flooded the Power House Road near Kripa theatre here.
“The repair
works took all day, but was completed by 10 pm on Saturday and water
supply restored,” said an assistant executive engineer with the Kerala
Water Authority (KWA).
The ruptured pipeline was a 500-mm high
density polyethylene pipe, around 40 years old, which carries water from
the Vellayambalam treatment plant to Manacaud region and beyond to the
coastal side. The areas worst hit were Manacaud, Kamaleshwaram,
Poonthura, Valiathura, Beemapally and Kovalam.
The crack in the
pipeline and its consequent repair works had disrupted traffic along the
Power House road for hours on Saturday.
The city, no stranger to
water pipe-bursts, has witnessed many of them owing to its aging
pipeline network. A recent pilot survey on a part of the city’s pipeline
network showed heavy tuberculation (development of small mounds of
corrosion particles formed over time on the inside of pipes) in them.
This, officials have said, not only affects the structural integrity of
the pipe but also reduces water flow in it.
