Thursday, Oct 14, 2004
Thursday, Oct 14, 2004 |
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Thiruvananthapuram
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, OCT. 13. Many places in the heart of the city such as Pulimood, Statue, the Secretariat area, Ayurveda College and Kunnumpuram are facing water shortage in spite of the fact that 210 million litres of drinking water reach the city's distribution network daily from pumping stations at Aruvikkara. The water-supply situation in these areas, which have a high concentration of lodges, apartments houses and hotels, is particularly worse during the morning hours when the taps in houses and lodges offer nothing more than a trickle of water. On many days there is regular supply of water only in the evening.
Reasons
Two reasons are being cited for this sorry state of affairs in these thickly populated places: the dilapidated condition of the distribution lines and the artificial shortage of water created by the diversion of drinking water to the Thirumala zone Most of the distribution lines servicing these areas are as old as the city's drinking water system itself. Heavily clogged with alum, many of these lines are today serving more number of consumers than they were ever intended to. Moreover, the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) has not replaced these lines with those with a larger diameter. The KWA has been diverting the drinking water in the storage tanks in the Observatory hills to the elevated parts of the city such as Thirumala and PTP Nagar. These places had no other go but to depend on the city's piped water supply. As sufficient water was not available to service all areas in the city at one go, the supply to the central zone of the city was cut off by 10 p.m. and restored only at four in the morning. The practice continues despite the fact that with the implementation of the interim augmentation scheme in 2000, the output of water from Aruvikkara increased to 210 million litres per day (mld). At present, the two treatment plants at Thirumala generate 16 mld. This region's requirement is a little more than 40 mld and the rest is supplied from the city's network.
Supply hours cut
The Kerala Water Authority has reduced the number of hours for which water supply to the central zone is cut off. Now the valves regulating the flow of water to this zone are closed by 10 p.m. and opened by 1 a.m. the following day Officials of the water authority say that while the practice of diverting water to Thirumala cannot be stopped immediately, the shortage in the areas coming under the central zone may be mitigated once the ongoing laying of new distribution lines in the area is completed. "We are putting in place a network of lines from Observatory to Kunnumpuram. This will be over in a month's time. Then, the water shortage in the heart of the city will be solved to a large extent," said K. Mohan, superintending engineer, KWA.
G.M.
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