Water supply to the capital was hit on Wednesday after the main
transmission pipeline bringing water from Aruvikkara to the city burst
at Vazhayila.

The 1,200-mm pre-stressed concrete pipe ruptured
around 7.30 am, spewing water at a great height and flooding the
Peroorkada-Vazhayila Road.

Water supply to Medical College,
Statue, Vanchiyoor, Chackai, Palayam, Mannanthala and Kudappanakkunnu
areas was disrupted following the incident.

 The Kerala Water
Authority (KWA) launched a major trouble-shooting exercise immediately
afterwards. Water supply is expected to be restored by Thursday morning,
KWA Chief Engineer (Distribution – South) Sreekumaran Nair said.

The
leak is being plugged by replacing the broken portion of the concrete
pipe with a mild-steel section. Both sides of the pipe are being joined
by welding. The supply will be restored only after the welded portions
cool.

 With water supply hit, the City Corporation despatched
water tankers to the affected areas. Filling points for the tankers were
arranged at the PTP Nagar reservoir and the Observatory Hill reservoir.

The pipe-burst caused traffic snarls for hours with the water flooding the Peroorkada-Vazhayila Road.

Traffic
regulations were already in place in the region as part of laying the
new Aruvikkara-Peroorkada transmission pipeline. This further added to
the traffic problems on Wednesday.

 The burst, in fact, occurred
near the area where the pipe replacement work of the KWA was going on.
Water flowed into the pits dug for the laying of pipes, disrupting the
work.

Meters being Replaced

T’Puram: The Kerala Water
Authority (KWA) is replacing the defunct water meters as part of the
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for the City
Corporation for free. Those who wish to replace meters have to apply to
the JNNURM Water Project Division at Observatory Hills before June 25,
an official release said.  Meters in the city, Vattiyoorkavu,
Sreekariyam and Kudappanakkunnu areas are being replaced in this manner.

Pipe-replacement Work on Track

T’Puram:
The Kerala Water Authority has completed more than half of the
pipe-replacement work between Aruvikkara and Peroorkada. The project to
replace the old pre-stressed concrete (PSC) pipes with mild steel (MS)
pipes is expected to end the menace of repeated pipe-bursts.

 “The
work is going on. We have time till November. But we hope to complete
it before that. More than 50 per cent of the work is over already. The
only problem is with the interference of the monsoon. The rain is
adversely affecting the work,” said KWA Chief Engineer Sreekumaran Nair.