KARUR: A huge amount of drinking water has been going to waste after damage to a Cauvery Combined Drinking Water Supply Scheme (CWSS) pipeline in Karur on Wednesday morning. The leakage has since been temporarily arrested by officials, but over 10 litres of water is still gushing out every minute.
The loss of water is being felt even more as the State has been reeling from acute water scarcity. The pipeline carrying Cauvery water is located near Aranganathampettai of Nerur panchayat. Locals first spotted the leak and informed officials. People have complained since the damage to the pipeline, water pressure has become low.
Nerur resident Kanagaraj said, “Cauvery water is being sent from here to other places like Dindigal, Vedasandhur, Somur and parts of Karur. The water started gushing out from the broken pipeline in the morning. As the water was gushing out near drain, people did not collect it in pots. A lot of water has been wasted even as the State goes through a crisis. When we informed officials, they tried to evade reponsibility and gave evasive replies.”
A senior TWAD official told Express, “During road extension works that are being carried out in that particular area, the pipeline got damaged when an earthmover was digging unaware of the pipeline. That’s reason for the water leakage. We’re currently analyzing the situation now and will find a solution. Temporarily we have sealed the leakage to an extension. But as a permanent solution, to stop the water from getting wasted, we need to replace the whole pipelines which requires assistance from municipality and EB.”
“We cannot stop the water pumping. Because if we do so, then parts of Karur district will have to suffer for two days to arrest the water completely. The pipelines will be replaced on the same day when the EB carries out its monthly maintenance when there is power shut down for a whole day across the district. As of now, around 10 litres of water per minute is getting leaked,” he concluded.