KWA has failed to tap additional sources or manage groundwater.
Picture used for representational purposes only (Photo: PTI/File)
Kochi: Kochiites are staring at a serious drinking water crisis with the civic authorities’ and the Kerala Water Authority’s failed attempts to bring additional water from new sources to city areas coupled with the failure in groundwater management.
Though the long-drawn Piravom project, with a capacity of 100 MLD, is partially commissioned, its benefits cannot be fully utilized due to poor pipeline network.
As most of the city areas come under the critical or semi-critical groundwater zone, an effective monitoring system to conserve wells and water sources and introducing permits for drilling domestic wells are crucial, feel experts.
“It is the civic body’s responsibility to chalk out an action plan based on the water policy for redressal of water problems like scarcity, low quality, disruption in supply and to conserve drinking water sources. Based on the action plan, necessary budgetary allocation has to be made this year,” said Dr. Sunny George of SCMS Water Institute, the agency which drafted the water policy for the city corporation.
Some of the major issues faced by the city are the absence of a regulatory body to prevent overexploitation of sources, failure in implementing rain water harvesting initiatives, depending on a single agency and a single source for the entire city’s water requirement, contamination, archaic and leaking pipeline network, theft and the presence of several small islands to which pipeline-laying is expensive and difficult.
While criticising Kerala Water Authority officials, corporation councillor and former health committee chairman T. K. Ashraf, who is in the forefront of protests against water scarcity, said that water supply to parched areas in west Kochi had not been improved even after the partial commissioning of Piravom project.
“It was earlier agreed that water supplied from Aluva pump house to neighbouring panchayats like Chellanam and Kumbalangi would be diverted to west Kochi areas once the Piravom scheme was commissioned. However, the supply has not been augmented,” he said.
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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