The Hindu : Corpn. warns of criminal proceedings

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 28, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

Corpn. warns of criminal proceedings

By Our Staff Reporter

COIMBATORE, MARCH 27 . In fresh raids, the Coimbatore Corporation has seized motors used for unauthorised drawal of drinking water from Siruvani lines. The continuance of the malpractice, in spite of earlier warnings, has led to the civic body warning of criminal proceedings against those who flouted rules.

The Corporation Commissioner, D. Karthikeyan, said unauthorised drawal of drinking water was as much a crime as illegal tapping of electricity. "Under relevant provisions in the City Municipal Corporation Act, we can initiate criminal proceedings against violators. We have provisions to lodge complaints with the police to have those resorting to unauthorised drawal booked, as it amounts to tampering with public utilities" he said.

Anticipating malpractice in a scarcity situation, special teams had been formed by the civic body to detect unauthorised drawal of water. The teams had been carrying out surprise checks periodically across the city to weed out such a practice and ensure there was balanced distribution of water.

One of the teams detected four cases in Ramnagar on Friday. It seized motors from four houses where the malpractice was on. A release from the Corporation said water supply would be disconnected and a fine imposed on the violators.

Stating that the storage in the Siruvani Dam was extremely poor, the Commissioner said the civic body had been calling for austerity among the people in the use of Siruvani water.

He said drought relief works were apace and a sum of Rs. 20 lakhs had been got from the Calamity Relief Fund. The Corporation itself had so far spent Rs. 17 lakhs from its funds towards sinking of borewells and linking of more overhead tanks under the Siruvani scheme with the Pilloor scheme pipelines.

Well ahead of the summer, the Corporation had drawn up a Rs. 4.6-crore drought-relief plan, similar to the contingency plan implemented at the same cost last year, when the city was faced with an unprecedented water crisis. It included interlinking of a Siruvani overhead tank in Tatabad with the Pilloor line to divert 15 million litres of Pilloor water a day to the Siruvani-fed areas.

This time, the Corporation was more prepared. It identified places where more borewells were needed, where the existing ones had to be deepened and also more overhead tanks that would have to be linked with the Pilloor scheme. The Corporation also had plans to draw an additional five million litres a day from the Pilloor scheme for the Siruvani-served areas.

The storage in the Siruvani Dam has been a cause for concern over the last four years, owing to successive failure of monsoon. While the dam hit dead storage in May last year, this time it had been expected to reach that level in mid-March. However, the Corporation's restricted supply has helped in sustaining the level above the dead storage. It aims at completing the relief works before the scarcity becomes acute.

With some parts of Kerala experiencing summer showers, Coimbatore also hopes that it will benefit from a similar gesture from the rain gods. However, given the poor storage and the amount of rain normally received during the summer showers, there is no hope of any major gain but only of sustaining the once-in-four-days supply of drinking water for some more time till the dead storage is reached.

Helpline

The Corporation has established a helpline for the people on problems relating to water supply and hygiene.

A press release from the Corporation said a special wing had been formed at the main office in Town Hall to deal with public grievances and it would begin functioning on March 29, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Complaints could be lodged over phone (number 2390261).

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu

News Update

Stories in this Section

Corpn. warns of criminal proceedings

SIEMA backs protest

Textiles panel moots `processing park' in Erode