Power outage adds to Thiruvananthapuram's woes as many taps dry up

Thiruvananthapuram: There was no water in the KWA taps in the city corporation on a rainy Friday till 3 p.m. because of a power outage at the Aruvikkara pumping station. Though there is a dedicated power line at Aruvikkara, KWA officials say that the problem could not be rectified for four hours. “The power failure was in the morning. It could be resumed only by 12.15 p.m. By 1 p.m., the water would have reached all storing tanks,” a KWA official said. The water supply was restored by 3 p.m.

There was another power failure in the afternoon at the pumping station. When asked about this, the KWA official said that the power had only tripped because of overload and that it would not take more than 10 minutes to restore power.
KSEB officials, however, say that it is time to change the wiring at the pumping station, even as KWA officials maintain that the fault was minor and that the delay was caused by the rain. “We have informed the authorities there about rewiring many times. But they are not doing it,” said a KSEB official.

The power supply there had tripped several times in February. Then, the officials had said that it was caused by the maintenance works at various substations nearby. Many areas in the city are almost entirely dependent on KWA supply as there are no open wells here.

Thycaud councillor Vidya Mohan says, “people cannot dig wells or construct rainwater harvesting systems as many own just one or two cents.” When Vidya assumed charge as a councillor, one of her first promises was to look into the acute water shortage in areas like Mettukkada in Thycaud ward.