Thiruvananthapuram: Large areas in the outlying wards of the city to the north are under the grip of acute water scarcity fuelled by drought conditions. Public taps and wells are running dry as the scorching summer heat saps precious water resources. The City Corporation is struggling to supply water to the parched areas in tanker lorries.

Thrippadapuram, Perumthara, Kattil, Kavukonam, Chengodikavu and Pullukad in the Attipra ward and Kattela in Cheruvackal are among the worst-affected areas. The farm sector has borne the brunt of the drought, with large tracts of fields turning barren. The searing heat has transformed wetlands into patches of scorched earth. Coconut trees are withering in the intense heat. The rapid depletion of water level in open wells has forced residents to queue up for water supplied in tanker lorries. Even wells in low-lying areas are running dry. The Thettiyar canal, which was once a lifeline for the region, has dried up in many places. Most of the tributaries, which fed the paddy fields along both sides of the National Highway bypass from Kazhakkuttam, are also dry, leaving the canal bed cracked. Residents say that even borewells yield little water.

While the Corporation has taken steps to supply water in tanker lorries once in three days, the district administration is yet to take action. The Collector has directed the village officer to collect details on the water-stressed areas. The coastal villages in the Poundukadavu ward are also reeling under severe drought. Attipra ward councillor S. Sivadath said the situation had reached a crisis point. "More areas have become water-stressed this year. With its limited resources, the Corporation cannot address the situation on its own," he said.

Mr. Sivadath points out that a Government project to supply water to the outlying wards had been hanging fire. "The project was designed to service almost all the affected areas in the Attipra ward. But the work on two overhead tanks at Manvila has been held up for the last five years."

The receding groundwater table has forced people to dig bore wells in many places where open wells used to yield good water till very recently. Scientists point out that the depletion of groundwater resources has been triggered by the rampant soil-mining from the surrounding hills and the unchecked reclamation of wetlands. The large- scale extraction of water from the Thettiyar canal is another reason that has aggravated drought conditions.

Over the last three years, large chunks of hilly land in the Kuzhivila, Pullukad, Kattela and Manvila areas have been razed to the ground, leaving a barren landscape mostly devoid of vegetation. Hundreds of truckloads of soil are dumped to fill up the wetlands along both sides of the highway to fuel the construction boom for the IT industry as well as housing and commercial projects. Large stretches along the banks of the Aakulam Lake in the Kadakampally, Attipra and Cheruvackal villages are also being reclaimed.

The earth-moving operations have seriously affected land stability and depleted water resources. The reclamation of wetlands blocks the capillary action of soil, upsetting the ground water regime and playing havoc with the drainage system.

Chairman of the Corporation's Health standing committee G.R. Anil said efforts were on augment the civic body's tanker lorry fleet with private vehicles. "We will requisition more trucks if the need arises," he said.

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