Kerala - Kollam   

Corporation nod for water supply plan

KOLLAM: The Kollam City Corporation council on Thursday gave the go-ahead for replacing Sasthamcotta Lake with the Thenmala dam as the city’s drinking water source.

The scheme will be commissioned under the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project (KSUDP).

The clearance was given on the basis of a study conducted at the dam site by an all-party delegation of councillors.

However, three councillors of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) opposed the scheme, stating that the project would remain yet another pipedream of the city.

The councillors are M.A. Sathar of the CPI(M) and K. Bhaskaran and S. Vijayan of the CPI. The project is estimated to cost Rs.187 crore. The KSUDP support for the project is Rs.43.79 crore.

The remaining amount will be realised from other sources by the Corporation.

As per the proposal, a well would be constructed within the catchment area to draw water from the dam.

It will be transferred through pipes laid through the canals of the Kallada Irrigation Project and brought to Ayathil in Kollam city where a treatment plant will be constructed.

Though the KSUDP consultancy firm had suggested three other locations along the course of the Kallada river as the source for drawing water, the council delegation wanted the catchment area itself to be the source, stating that the water would be more pure than in the downstream.

The proposal will be forwarded to the State government for administrative clearance.

As a major portion of the land for the treatment plant is in private hands, the Corporation will adopt the fast- track system to make the Cabinet take the required decision on acquiring the land.

The Irrigation Department had earlier given the required clearance to Kollam Corporation to draw water from the reservoir of the Thenmala Dam for meeting the city’s drinking water needs. The clearance was to draw 75 million litres of water a day.

It is expected that the project will be commissioned before the term of the present corporation council ends.

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