The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Coimbatore News : Supply timings erratic, say residents

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 29, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

Supply timings erratic, say residents

K.V. Prasad

Water aplenty, quota for suburbs inadequate

COIMBATORE: Though the city sits pretty with good storage in Siruvani and Pilloor dams, murmurs of protest among residents in the suburbs grow louder by the day as supply is erratic. While this is the only complaint in some parts of the city, the less fortunate suburbs cry for help as allocation of drinking water is poor and so is distribution of the available quantum.

As the wait from new schemes continues in the suburbs, they want a temporary increase of Siruvani water to meet the growing demand.

A few days ago, residents of Chinnavedampatti that borders the city staged a road blockade to protest against poor supply.

They wondered why the problem should persist for days when water was available in both the dams. In several suburbs with hectic construction activity over the last two years, residents complain there is no fixed timing for supply. A resident of Kurichi says supply is made anytime during the day but mercifully not in the early hours or midnight.

With drinking water and bore well water supplied through the same pipe, residents in some Special Panchayats are unable to keep the valve in the drinking water sump open.

If bore well water is released during the day, it will mix with whatever little drinking water available in the sump.

They say that because of this many houses go without water as employed family members are away at work when supply is made.

Staff shortage in the local bodies puts one line operator in charge of at least six to seven layouts.

Houses have come up so rapidly over the last two years that each layout has at least 50 residential premises with individual connections.

To supply them in the morning, before people go to work, is impossible, official sources say.

Besides, water has to be released from the main overhead tanks to the smaller ones that serve small groups of layouts. Erratic timings of this process have a cascading effect, they point out.

But the major problem haunting the people and the local bodies is insufficient water, especially with regard to the Siruvani scheme.

Three municipalities and several panchayats served by this scheme share around 10 million litres a day (mld).

Despite representations to the district administration and the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board, these local bodies have almost reached peak summer this year without a litre extra but have to provide water to more houses than last year.

As most of them are still working out loan options for funding alternative water schemes, the local bodies say a portion of the city's share of Siruvani water can be diverted to them.

The resultant shortfall for the city can be offset by diversion from the Pilloor scheme to the Siruvani-served areas.

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