Kerala - Kochi   

Shortage of drinking water in coastal areas

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, JAN. 6. The coastal regions of the district, which are slowly getting over the impact of the tsunami onslaught, are now reeling under an acute drinking water shortage. Many regions, like some wards in Chellanam panchayat, have gone dry.

The tsunami filled the wells and ponds with saline water. The district administration has asked the panchayats to employ people on a daily wage-basis to get these waterbodies cleaned up.

Most of the panchayats have completed cleaning the wells and ponds along with the cleaning of the houses. The work in the Vypeen region has almost been completed, said the District Collector, A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish.

According to the statement submitted by the District Collector to the central team that came to assess the damage, nearly 90 per cent of the pipelines laid for drinking water supply to Vypeen region was damaged, causing a loss of Rs. 2 crores.

Water supply was provided to relief camps round-the-clock. However, this cannot be maintained during normal times. The trips by tanker lorries could be increased to make up the shortage, said Mr. Hanish.

Not fully met

Even though the supply of water using tanker lorries and barges was reinstated six days after the tsunami onslaught, the demand was not fully met, said the president of the Vypeen Block Panchayat, C.M. Devassy. The Kerala Water Authority has no immediate plans to increase the supply to these regions. Replacing the damaged pipelines will be taken up urgently, said the Superintending Engineer of the KWA, R. Sasidharan.

Both Kumbalanghi and Chellanam panchayats are also complaining of drinking water shortage. While Kumbalanghi panchayat officials said that water supply to some parts had to be stopped for pumping extra load to Chellanam, those from Chellanam area denied that they received extra supply.

Totally dry

Some regions in Chellanam panchayat, like Cheriya Kadavu, have gone totally dry. The water supply towards the southern parts of the panchayat has been severely affected, said the president of the Chellanam panchayat, Kusumam John.

On their part, the Kumbalanghi panchayat has started cleaning up ponds in the region. Last year, 300 ponds had been cleaned up and this year financial help would be extended to clean up another 300, said the president of the Kumbalanghi panchayat, M.P. Sivadathan.

Another issue in these panchayats is local residents resorting to hand pumps to draw water on days when there is no supply. Drinking water is pumped to these panchayats on alternative days.

"Earlier only a few used hand pumps. Though we brought this to the notice of the Kerala Water Authority twice, no action has been taken," said Mr. Sivadathan.

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