The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Water authority survey to identify encroachments nearing completion

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Sunday, Jul 13, 2008
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Water authority survey to identify encroachments nearing completion

G.Mahadevan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A survey by officials of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) to identify land encroachments—in the Peroorkada-Kowdiar stretch—on either side of an arterial drinking water pipeline bringing water from Aruvikkara to Observatory hills is nearing completion.

The survey is a continuation of a similar exercise done by the Authority and Revenue officials in June 2007 on the Kowdiar-Kanaka Nagar stretch of the pipeline.

Then, encroachments to the extent of 2.5 acres were identified on the 3-km-long road.

Revenue authorities identified 75 houses built on either side of the 33-inch cast iron pipeline laid in the early 1920s.

On July 9 and 10 the survey was done in and around Kowdiar junction.

However KWA officials stopped short of carrying out the survey inside the property in Kowdiar junction that belongs to a leading builder and inside another property nearby, the ownership of which is the subject of a court case.

Alignment

“Once we get the alignment of the line on either side of this property then we can confidently say the exact location of the line inside the property,” the engineer explained.

Dispute

Even after encroachments were identified on the Kowdiar-Kanaka Nagar stretch of the pipeline, Revenue officials were unable to complete the survey process as there was a dispute on the precise width that the pipeline road requires.

While the KWA maintains that a pipeline road has to be 10 meters wide, it does not have much records to prove that the pipeline road from Kowdiar to Kanaka Nagar was 10 meters wide either when the pipeline was laid or, subsequently.

Local residents maintain that when they built the houses they were asked to leave 14 links of space from the pipeline.

So, the total width of the pipeline roadwould probably have been 28 links or roughly 10 feet, many residents pointed out to the KWA officials.

Moreover, the implementation of the ‘10 metre rule’ will also lead to the demolition of eight huts built on the side of the pipeline.

Those living in these huts told revenue officials that they had no title deeds to the land even though they were remitting building tax.

It is very likely that once Revenue officials finish surveying possible encroachments on the pipeline’s path from Peroorkada to Kowdiar, similar arguments would crop up.

However, the KWA officials point out that more than humanitarian considerations, it is the safety factor that should be taken into account in such cases.

“Many houses are very close to the pipeline which is a pumping main. If the line bursts, the lives of the people in these houses will be in danger,” pointed out a senior KWA engineer.

Authority engineers also argue that for any maintenance on this line, they would require space on either side to dig trenches or to manoeuvre in earth moving equipment.

On many locations there is no sufficient width for this; herein lies the reason for their insistence on the 10-meter rule, they add.

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