Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Suburbs move closer to implementing new water schemes

K. V. Prasad

Local bodies hope for temporary increase in Siruvani supply

COIMBATORE: Even as the suburbs south and west of the city are inching closer to implementing new schemes, they look for a temporary increase in their quota of Siruvani drinking water.

Reeling under shortage despite a sharp rise in population over the last three years, Kavundampalayam, Vadavalli, Kurichi and Kuniamuthur hope for some concession from the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board. They want a portion of the Corporation's share of Siruvani water till the new schemes are commissioned.

"Tenders for the scheme for Kavundampalayam and Vadavalli (with River Bhavani as the source) have been called for. The bids will be finalised in February. A time frame of 18 months has been given to complete the scheme since finalisation of bids," says the Chairman of the Kavundampalayam Municipality, M. Rajendran. "But, we want the Siruvani quota to be raised at least till then to meet the rising demand for water."

Mr. Rajendran told The Hindu that out of the waitlisted 4,000 water connections, the process of releasing 3,000 is to begin soon. "Mr. Rajendran alleges discrimination against Kavundampalayam and Vadavalli in the allocation of drinking water. "The city gets top priority even as the suburbs bordering it grow rapidly."

The situation is similar in the case of Kurichi and Kuniamuthur. These areas are to implement a scheme at Rs.49.90 crores with the Aliyar as source. The two schemes for these four local bodies are expected to reduce the stress on the Siruvani scheme.

There is scope for increasing the drawal from the Siruvani Dam from the existing 101 million litres a day (as per the agreement with Kerala where the dam is located).

The Coimbatore Mayor, T. Malaravan, appealed to the Kerala Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy, during his visit to the city last month, to enable raising the dam's height by at least a feet to meet the demand in the city and suburbs for more water.

While there is no indication that the appeal may be considered, the local bodies here are working to implement alternative schemes.

These include the Pilloor second phase scheme for the Coimbatore Corporation.

Though two of these proposals are meant for four to five key suburbs, there are others that do not seem to have a solution. For instance, Veerakeralam is a less fortunate neighbour of Vadavalli.

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