The Hindu : Town panchayats may go without Siruvani supply

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 07, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

Town panchayats may go without Siruvani supply

COIMBATORE Jan. 6. Even as water managers work out the quantity of the drinking water to be distributed during this summer, on the basis of the storage in the Siruvani dam, there are reports that the town panchayats of Kurichi, Kuniamuthur, Kavundampalayam and Vadavalli, located on the city outskirts, may go without Siruvani supply.

It is learnt that the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board recently wrote to the town panchayats to initiate steps to make their own arrangements and keep them in a state of "preparedness" for this summer.

According to sources in the town panchayats, the letter states that the TWAD Board is making all possible efforts to make the bare minimum supply now and will continue to do so even during summer. However, it has asked the town panchayats to have open wells and bore wells in usable condition to compensate for lack of supply under the Siruvani scheme. It is also learnt that whatever amount of Siruvani water is available may be supplied to the city and to the wayside habitations that have no alternative source of supply.

The worst fears of the town panchayats, lingering since the conclusion of poor monsoon, seem to be coming true. It is a foregone conclusion that the summer this time will inflict greater hardship on the suburbs than on the city. All the four town panchayats seem to have had an inkling of the crisis ahead. Already, the supply of Siruvani water in these areas is made only once in 15 days. Now, the prospect of total suspension of supply places these local bodies, especially those without bore wells, in the most unenviable position.

Days ahead of the crisis last summer, a 20 per cent cut in supply to these town panchayats was announced. Residents suspect that it could have been even 50 per cent, going by the meagre quantum supplied. From once in four days, the supply frequency was made once in 14-15 days.

During the days of full storage in the Siruvani dam, these town panchayats had been supplied with six million litres a day (MLD). Subsequently, they got an additional four MLD that had been supplied to the town panchayats of Sulur and Irugur and for the Sulur Air Force base, which in turn were brought under the Pilloor scheme. All these happened when the total assured supply under the Siruvani scheme was 101MLD, with the city alone getting 87 MLD.

Now, the city itself is supplied only around 30 MLD and the total drawal is around 38 MLD. With the prediction that the dam will hit dead storage in mid-March, the drawal will be reduced drastically. While the city has an alternative in the Pilloor scheme, the town panchayats in the western parts will have only ground water as substitute to Siruvani supply. Reports from most of the areas say that the bore well water is not potable. The residents in the Siruvani-served town panchayats feel that even thrice a month supply in areas that have bore well supply will have to be made instead of stopping supply totally, as they need a minimum amount of potable water.

Their contention is that they do not have an alternative source, such as the Pilloor scheme for the city. However, water managers in the city point out that the bore well water in the city is least potable. On reports of total supply suspension for the summer, people in town panchayats want to know in what way these areas are inferior to the city. "There is hectic growth in these areas. A balance should be struck in supply. There cannot be too much focus on the city alone," they say.

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