THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With two more pumps set to become operational on May 6, not less than one third of city’s drinking water now comes from the Neyyar dam. The KWA will begin to pump around 50 Million Litres per Day (MLD) of water from Neyyar dam. Around 25 MLD flows into Aruvikkara reservoir through Kumbilnoodu canal and half of this could be considered as seepage loss. Aruvikkara reservoir in turn supplies around 70 MLD of water.
“Apart from two dredgers that jointly pump around 33 MLD from Neyyar dam, two 100 HP dredgers have begun functioning on Tuesday. However, they stalled due to technical issues. Our priority will be to have 180 HP pump delivered before May 6. The old 100 HP motors can pumps only a maximum of 18 MLD a day,” said KWA officials. Water is being drawn from Neyyar dam to Aruvikkara reservoir, as Peppara, its mother storage dam has been affected badly by drought.
Due to the consumption pattern of the city, water in Aruvikkara reservoir gets over every day necessitating release of water from Peppara. At present, water is pumped round the clock from Neyyar to reduce dependence on Peppara dam and stretch the stock until monsoon. Though around 40mm rainfall was experienced in city until Tuesday, showers in the dam catchment areas were not enough to raise water levels. The officials anticipate showers at Agasthyakoodam on dam catchment areas by next week.
