Work on course despite hitting boulders
Cusat lake. (Photo: DC)
Kochi: Despite controversies and hitches dogging its ambitious drinking water project being realised by digging a vast lake on its campus, the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) is proceeding firmly to make the varsity self-sufficient in terms of drinking water and water for other purposes.
The varsity embarked on the project with an estimate of Rs 1.64 crore, but near midway, the diggers hit boulders that stumped the contractor and engineers who undertook the work as they never expected the slightly hilly terrain to have such hurdles.
However, the boulders have not dispirited the team which now says that the work is on course. “Initially we had not commissioned machinery and made provision for breaking boulders as we did not foresee them. So we approached the Syndicate which has allowed the work to go ahead. It has asked the Chief Technical Examiner of the State Government to visit the site and after his inspection, we will resume the work on the lake,” said a senior official in the engineering department of the varsity.
The contractor commissioned by the varsity has so far spent Rs 41 lakh on the digging work and the lake is now filled with the rain water collected during this monsoon.
“We are sure that we will be able to get sufficient water from the ground at the anticipated 10.5 metres. A few springs sprouted at 5.5 metres itself and there is sufficient water in the two wells nearby even in summer. So there is no cause for concern about the success of the lake. It will be able to meet the full water needs of the varsity even during summer. The varsity can do away with the huge water bills of the KWA and will not have to commission water tanker lorries during times of acute scarcity,” said the official.
The official said that the project had not been dreamed up all of a sudden but after proper survey under the Jalanidhi scheme of the Kerala Government.
( Source : dc )
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