THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Engineers of the irrigation department and Kerala Water Authority hope to start pumping water from the Neyyar dam hopefully on Monday to address the grave drinking water crisis in the city. The work is progressing on a war footing day and night to pump 1,000-metre cube water per hour, which will reach the Aruvikkara dam. The project is to pump water from Neyyar into the defunct Ayani Kadavu at Kottur which has since been cleaned. It is a 9-km long canal, and the engineers faced issues when they realised that there is no power supply to pump water. They resolved it, bringing in a 26-tonne dredger having an engine propelled pump where water will be pumped from a 1.5-km distance.
A top irrigation official told DC that they expected to receive at least 50 percent of the water being pumped from the Neyyar dam through the Ayani Kadavu. They fear there must be seepage and the remaining 50 percent will reach the final destination at Aruvikkara. “We are hoping to open the Ayani Kadavu canal by Sunday, and the current plan is to start the final pumping from Monday. The canal was full of weeds and silt which has since been cleaned by close to 200 labourers. Another dredger is being arranged from Travancore Cements, Nattakom, Kottayam, in a trailer lorry,” said a top irrigation official.
More than 50 engineers are leading the work. Another KWA official said this had been a challenging work in the recent history of both departments. However, officials do not have a clue on how mammoth the work would cost as they have been asked to complete the project at the earliest, with the priority to make drinking water available to the city dwellers. The plan is to pump water from Neyyar dam until early June.
