Kerala - Kochi   

Court grants six more months to complete work on water scheme

Staff Reporter

Kochi: A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Thursday granted the State Government and the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) six more months to complete the HUDCO-aided drinking water supply scheme for the city.

The Bench comprising Chief Justice V.K. Bali and Justice S. Siri Jagan issued the order while considering the petitions filed by the State Government and the KWA seeking to review the court's directive for completing the scheme within six months. The directive came on June 20, 2006. The Bench made it clear that no further time shall be granted on any account. The court observed that it should be the duty of the Government and the KWA to see that the people of West Kochi got potable water in sufficient quantity positively in the extended time.

The court while issuing the directive also ordered constituting a committee headed by the Chief Secretary to monitor the progress of the works of the scheme.

When the review petition came up, the Advocate General and the counsel for KWA tried to argue that the court should not have passed such a directive.

When the court asked the Advocate General and counsel for KWA whether it was not the duty of the State Government and the KWA to provide adequate potable water to the citizens, they submitted that the review petition be considered as applications seeking to extend the time for complying with the earlier directive.

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