Kerala - Alappuzha   

MLA blames water authority for inaction

ALAPPUZHA: Alappuzha MLA K.C. Venugopal has criticised the officials of the Kerala Water Authority for not taking steps to solve the drinking water shortage in the constituency.

In a statement issued here on Sunday, Mr. Venugopal said decisions taken at a constituency-level advisory committee meeting three months ago to tackle the crisis had not been implemented.

A bore-well was dug in Pazhaveedu more than three months ago, but is yet to be commissioned.

Several borewells in the town are lying unutilised for want of pumps.

The shortage of pumps was pointed out two months ago and the officials had promised that the issue would be sorted out in two days, but nothing happened so far. A meeting held on May 9 had also discussed the issue.

“Officials had reiterated at that meeting that the borewell at Pazhaveedu would be commissioned immediately and that the shortage of pumps would be dealt with. But they haven’t done anything till date,” the statement said. “The officials are evading responsibility by blaming each other. The funds for tackling the water crisis were sanctioned under various heads, including the Tsunami rehabilitation project. But these haven’t been utilised so far,” the MLA said and urged Water Resources Minister N.K. Premachandran to take action against the officials who are neglecting duty and adding to the water woes of Alappuzha town. The drinking water shortage is not just a summer phenomenon in Alappuzha.

The town records the highest fluoride content in groundwater. While the Reverse Osmosis Plants used to treat water have been fraught with maintenance problems, work on the much-awaited, Rs.156-crore drinking water project under the Union government’s Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) is still in the initial stages. In Kuttanad constituency, efforts to distribute drinking water to far-flung areas by boats have been lethargic, even after several meetings and repeated directions from authorities.

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

Stories in this Section

MLA blames water authority for inaction
Steps initiated to check price rise in Alappuzha
One killed in accident
‘Boycott politics’ will not work: Sudhakaran

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu