KOCHI: Ending the uncertainty of city residents over the availability of drinking water, the tanker lorry owners, who stopped water supply from Thursday night, withdrew their protest. During the negotiation meeting convened on Friday, district collector Muhammad Y Safirulla gave permission to collect 10 loads of water per day from sources with surplus quantity. The tanker owners went on strike alleging that local bodies were not allowing them to collect water from the sources in their areas. Mr. Safirulla instructed the Groundwater Department to check the volume of water available in 10 wells situated along River Periyar.
“Wasting drinking water won’t be allowed at any cost and the tankers should not provide water for other purposes. The district administration will have complete right on drinking water,” said Mr. Safirulla. The tehsildar has been asked to submit a report after inspecting possibilities for using water available in unused granite quarries. During the meeting, the Ernakulam district Drinking Water Transporters’ Association complained that panchayat and municipality authorities had issued a stop memo against drawing water from their areas.
Meanwhile, Kerala Water Authority officials have made it clear that the Authority cannot provide more water from its supply point at Aluva. At present, KWA is supplying 17,000 lakh litres of water from Aluva at the rate of Rs.60 per 1000 litres, which is sufficient for the municipal area. The KWA will begin water supply from two centres at Maradu from Wednesday. As part of identifying new sources, tanker operators have agreed to clean 25 unused wells in Aluva area. The tehsildar has been asked to submit a list of these wells by Wednesday. The meeting was attended by Fort Kochi sub collector Dr. Adeela Abdullah, deputy collector K.B Babu, representatives of Tanker Lorry Operators Association and officials of government departments.
Collector assures equal distribution of drinking water
Local bodies issuing stop memos to water tankers against collecting drinking water from the sources in their areas has forced district collector Muhammad Y Safirulla to step in and clarify that the district administration is responsible for ensuring availability of drinking water to all. “The state government has entrusted the district administration to ensure equal distribution of water to all as drinking water is a topic which calls for immediate attention,” said Mr Safirulla. “The police has been directed not to prevent drinking water tankers collecting water considering its acute scarcity.”
The district administration in consultation with the health department had earlier identified more than 45 sources in various parts of the district from where tankers have been collecting water. Meanwhile, there are widespread complaints against the unrestrained drawing of water from these sources. Local bodies and residents often question over exploitation of sources in their areas which often leads to conflicts.
