THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The residents of Jawahar Nagar, the oldest and poshest housing colony in Thiruvananthapuram, are a harried lot. They have been hit hard by water scarcity owing to the maintenance work on the main pump at Aruvikkara dam. Over 60 percent of the residents are aged, who live alone because their spouses are dead or whose children are working abroad or outside the state. There are a total of 270 houses and 174 families are living in the area.
There are 15 streets from A to O with four bylanes. Earlier, the residents used to get KWA water for a couple of hours in the wee hours. But for over the last two weeks, the pipes have dried up.
Mr N. P. Unnikrishnan, a resident of C -1/1, wants that the authorities should tackle the crisis on a long-term basis. "Jawahar Nagar is the winner of the best residents' association in the city. But the water scarcity shows the failure of the local politicians. Several householders here have started digging wells, but even ground water has depleted," said Mr Unnikrishnan, who runs a restaurant.
The senior citizens face a tough time with not a single drop of water. Savithri Amma, 84, a widow, is living under the mercy of her neighbours who provide her drinking water.
Mr N. Jayakumar, secretary of Jawahar Nagar Welfare Association, told DC that only a couple of streets get KWA water regularly. "Earlier, we used to get water at midnight for a few hours. But now that has also stopped. KWA officials say that the existing pipeline is several decades old. A new line has to be laid and for that a tender has to be floated," he said.
Local MLA K. Muraleedharan, who lives at Bhagawathy Nagar near to Jawahar Nagar, is a former resident of Jawahar Nagar. He told DC, "I have always tried to address the issues at Jawahar Nagar and will take up the water shortage with the top KWA officials."
KWA superintending chief engineer Suresh Chandran said that Jawahar Nagar is on the critical zone in water supply. "The current water shortage is due to the maintenance work on the main pump at Aruvikkara dam. We hope to complete the work by Friday, after which Jawahar Nagar will get a few hours of water supply at night," he said.
