THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The summer season has brought water crisis to the capital city. Despite the efforts by Kerala Water Authority (KWA), the number of houses facing potable water shortage is high.
Wards in the grip of water crisis include Sasthamangalam, Palayam, Kowdiar and Nanthencode.
Recently, residents of Nanthencode and Palayam wards organised a protest march in front of the KWA executive engineer's office against the water crisis. "The engineer assured provision for a temporary solution will be made until the problem can be solved permanently. Water was made available to them for two consecutive days after which the condition here went back to the same," said Palayam Rajan, Nanthencode ward councillor.
Lenin Nagar in Palayam, Kanaka Nagar and Devaswom Board Junction in Nanthencode, Mangalam Lane and Madrasa Lane in Sasthamangalam and Jawahar Nagar in Kowdiar are the majorly hit regions in the city. Leakage in pipes, old pipe connection and increase in the number of consumers are some of the reasons pointed out by KWA authorities.
"The sudden shutdown of power in the area was one of the reasons for the shortage of water in some areas in these days. Those lines have to be corrected soon," said KWA chief engineer Sudheer S V.The residents in several areas have been hounded by the water crisis for many years. Even the water supply timing which is around 3 am to 6 am or 2 am to 4 am is of no help. With water supply for a few hours, only those houses with tank facilities could benefit, while the others are left with no option. "If they supply water according to the authorities' convenience, it will be difficult especially to those who have work," said Benitha Ambally, a resident of Lenin Nagar.
Jawahar Nagar in Kowdiar, which is one of the posh areas in the city, is one region, which has been facing water crisis for several years now. "KWA CE suggested only replacing old pipeline connection with new ones can resolve the issue," said Muraleedharan K, a resident of Kowadiar. After complaints, KWA is working towards progress, a KWA staff said.
Issue to be resolved
The KWA CE Suresh Chandran said half of the water shortage issues in the city will be resolved with the launch of the 75 MLD water treatment plant at Aruvikkara