The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Coimbatore News : Siruvani storage a cause for concern

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 18, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

Siruvani storage a cause for concern

By K.V. Prasad

COIMBATORE, APRIL 15 . With drought relief measures yet to be completed, the city is going through anxious moments what with nearly two months to go for the South West Monsoon to set in.

The ongoing works notwithstanding, the poorer storage in the Siruvani Dam now than last year seems to be reason enough for concern. And, the Coimbatore Corporation is in a quandary over sustaining supply of the present quantum of Siruvani water.

In spite of the scarcity, the civic body is forced to continue with the supply schedule of once in four days and has not hinted of any further cut yet.

Ahead of the summer, there were speculations of the Corporation contemplating a once-in-six-day schedule.

But, with the Opposition parties already resenting the present one, the civic body clarified to the public that there was no such plan.

But, the Corporation is apparently finding it hard to conceal its constraints. While it maintains that water is supplied once in four days in the areas served by the Siruvani scheme, there are complaints from various areas that the supply is made only once in six days.

The public grouse, echoed by Councillors in the Opposition parties, is that the Corporation has silently rescheduled supply while giving an impression that there is no change.

However, official sources in the Corporation say that the civic body has not made any such change and is doing its best to provide the minimum required quantity to the people despite the scarcity. The Corporation has to make do with whatever little quantity the fast drying up Siruvani Dam has to offer.

The only option left to augment supply is diverting water from the Pilloor scheme to the Siruvani-fed areas.

While the interlinking of the Pilloor line with a Siruvani overhead tank at Tatabad last summer helped in diverting 15 million litres a day (mld) of Pilloor water to the parched western parts of the city that come under the Siruvani scheme, this summer, the Corporation has planned to provide five more mld of Pilloor water to these areas.

It has even allocated Rs.25 lakhs to install a motor at the dam to pump the additional quantum. However, the diversion of five mld is yet to take off as the installation work is on. Hence, until this work and the inter-linking of more overhead tanks with the Pilloor line are completed, the Corporation will have to continue with the arrangements it made since the onset of crisis last summer.

Even as the Corporation claims that drought relief works are on, there is resentment over the pace at which they progress.

Though it has provided a number of borewells and is sinking more of them, the poor quality of groundwater in the city leaves the people satisfied only to some extent with these measures.

However, water managers remind that Siruvani or Pilloor waters should be used only for drinking or cooking purposes. For, the rest, borewell water should be used.

They point out that it is time that the city and outskirts learnt from the crisis persisting for the last four years that drinking water cannot be extravagantly used.

Even as they veer around to this view, the public want clean water to be supplied. While distress sharing is the need of the hour, they want the Corporation to ensure there is no contamination of the scarce commodity.

After the protest by residents on Wednesday at Ukkadam, alleging supply of drinking water that contained sewage, the Corporation says it is keeping a close watch on the distribution infrastructure.

In the case at Ukkadam, corrosion in an old line is suspected.

"Two public fountains located near sewage lines are being relocated to eliminate any chance of contamination," the Deputy Commissioner of the Corporation, M. Karunakaran, said.

<167,2p,1>DMK demand

The Leader of the Opposition and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) member in the Corporation Council, K.P. Jagannathan, has called upon the Corporation Commissioner, D. Karthikeyan, to draw up a drinking water scheme for the city.

In a letter to the Commissioner, he said water could be drawn from the Bhavani at Nellithurai (off Mettupalayam) for supply to the Corporation areas alone.

This option should be considered given the poor storage every year in the Siruvani dam.

The letter said the cost of the scheme should be worked out immediately and placed before the Council for approval.

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