Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

Residents still prefer packaged water

By Karthik Subramanian

CHENNAI, JAN. 7. The alternate day supply of water through pipelines has increased to over 450 million litres, according to Chennai Metrowater. However, a large number still depends on packaged water provided by private operators for drinking and cooking purposes.

A representative of the Tamil Nadu Packaged Drinking Water Manufacturers' Association, which has 270 water-packaging units in its rolls, said the sales of packaged drinking water had not suffered much even after the government agency stepped up its pipeline supply. "We have suffered only marginally because of the season."

Though there is no independent audit of the water being supplied by the private operators in Chennai, conservative estimates based on the figures provided by the association shows that every day the city residents buy up to one lakh units of 12-litre cans at Rs. 15 each and another 1.25 lakh units of the 25-litre bubble tops sold at Rs. 30 each.

The number can be much bigger because, as most private players admit, no operator furnishes the actual sales figures to keep tabs on the royalty amount paid to the Bureau of Indian Standard, which is the licensing authority for packaged water units.

On several occasions, Metrowater has reiterated that the water being supplied through its pipelines is chlorinated. It has advised residents to boil water before drinking it. But residents have grown dependent on packaged water and ground water over Metrowater. Increasingly, the water being supplied by the Government is only used for non-drinking purposes.

Though piped line supply has improved considerably over the past few weeks, several areas at the tail end of the Metrowater supply chain continue to suffer.

Today, a group of residents of Anna Nagar `Y' block threatened to take to the streets after repeated complaints that the area was not receiving water for three months now. The region falls at the tail end of the supply network and water was being supplied here on alternate days through tankers. The protest was called off after local Metrowater engineers guaranteed the residents that new water mains would be laid in the region and supply would be streamlined within 45 days.

K. Jayaraman, a senior resident of `Y' block, said the tanker supply being undertaken in the absence of piped supply had problems. "Invariably whenever there is a tanker supply, we are forced to pay tips to the drivers and the cleaners. The residents, particularly women, are fed up of carrying water up the stairs. It is too much of a stress on the health."

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

Tamil Nadu

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous | Engagements |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Updates: Breaking News |

Stories in this Section

Contributions galore for tsunami victims
Manmohan Singh in city
Residents still prefer packaged water
Healthcare `should be made affordable'
Kennel Club project to revive Rajapalayam dogs
Book extravaganza kicks off
On show, 5,000 years of Indian glory
Kandaleru release stepped up
BITS online test
Huts destroyed in fire
In Chennai Today
More vehicles, more fatalities

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu