The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : KWA takes action against illegal drawing of water

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 27, 2005

Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

KWA takes action against illegal drawing of water

Staff Reporter

Parts of west Kochi reeling under acute water scarcity

KOCHI: The Kerala Water Authority (KWA), which has drawn widespread criticism for not acting on time, has decided to initiate steps to counter unauthorised drawing of water through domestic connections.

Widespread use of motor pumps to draw water from the line has led to a crisis in western parts of Kochi. The KWA disconnected supply to three domestic users in Chellanam on Tuesday penalising them for drawing water using motors.

"The trend is rampant in regions where there is shortage of water. When motor is used to draw water remaining in the lines during non-pumping hours, air is also sucked into the lines. This leads to consumers not getting water even when the Authority is pumping it," said a KWA official.

Another issue is the damages caused to the pipes, leading to pollutants entering the supply system. The KWA currently has a list of consumers using motors and is planning to crack down on the practice. More domestic connections will be disconnected on Friday, the official said.

This, however, will not be easy, say local residents. "Almost all houses in the panchayat use motors, but the councillors would not be ready to lead the KWA authorities to them. Especially with elections round the corner. Our experience has been that even if we alert the KWA no action is taken and we have to face the wrath of the public," said Kusumam John, Chellanam panchayat president.

Chellanam now relies solely on water supplied through tanker lorries. "The District Collector has allotted one more tanker lorry, making the total count of eight lorries daily. This should be maintained at any cost," Ms. John said.

The situation is better at neighbouring Kumbalanghi, mainly because the panchayat is yet to give domestic connections. Though hand pumps are widely used, motors have been restricted. "Motor pumps were used in some houses, but the panchayat identified them and action was taken. We could thus control this trend here," said M.P. Sivadathan, Kumbalanghi panchayat president.

Closer to the city limits, the use of motor pumps is rampant in Mattanchery and Edakochi. Almost all the ice and shrimp factories along the coast have installed motors, but the Authority is in no way near regulating or controlling them.

On their part, the residents of Mattanchery have for long been complaining about anomalies in the supply system. The UPAD project meant for Mattanchery region was expected to be completed by March 2000 and is far from being so, said K. Prabhakaran, secretary of Swasraya Mattanchery.

The pipes laid for the project are of inferior quality and have burst in many parts during trial runs, leading to serious doubts regarding the quality of work. Also, the pipes are made of asbestos, which is banned by the World Health Organisation, he said.

Since 1979, the KWA has commissioned only three projects for supply of drinking water and is pumping 123 million litres daily, which is only 25 per cent of the requirement, Mr. Prabhakaran said.

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

Kerala

News Update

Stories in this Section

KWA takes action against illegal drawing of water

KBPS to be made best printing centre

Kochi Corporation honours eminent women personalities

Suggestions sought on new bus routes

Waste treatment plant: firm to be chosen soon

Government backing CUSAT for IIT status

Registration on for pre-counselling programme

Maths lessons on CD soon

Around the City

In Kochi Today