KOCHI: Thousands of residents in Kochi have been affected as one of the major ground-level water tanks of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) in the city collapsed in the early hours of Monday. One of two massive storage facilities at the Thammanam pump house collapsed at 2.30am, flooding the entire residential area behind the pump house.
Water gushed out as the outer wall of one of the two compartments of the 40-year-old tank, which has a capacity of around 1.35 crore litres, broke apart and the ceiling of the structure collapsed. Around 1.15 crore litres of water is estimated to have drained out of the tank.
The damage occurred in the compartment that stored drinking water meant to be supplied to all major regions under Kochi corporation. “Thirty per cent of Kochi corporation, regions like Vyttila, Petta, Vaduthala, Pachalam, and the adjacent Cheranallur panchayat will face water shortage,” Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine said.
He said the shortage will be met by increasing pumping and other measures. “But the problem of reaching the tail ends due to pressure management issues will have to be rectified through a trial and error system with the available resources, which will take some time,” the minister said.
To manage water scarcity, water tankers will be pressed into service, he said. “In areas where tankers cannot reach, small tanks with a capacity of 5,000 to 10,000 litres will be placed nearby,” he said. According to the authorities, a primary probe revealed that the disaster occurred as the foundation of the structure sank into the soil, leading to the wall cracking open.
“The structural engineering department of KWA and the engineering departments of Cusat and PWD have been assigned to carry out a detailed study and prepare a report after ascertaining the reasons for collapse and the structural issues with the storage tanks,” Roshy said.
Water arriving from the Aluva water treatment plant via a 1200-mm pipe was being distributed to the two compartments of the Thammanam tank through 700mm pipes, which have now been shut. Also, water coming from the Maradu plant to the collapsed compartment has to be transferred to the other.
“This adjustment has to be made and the interconnection between the two compartments blocked before pumping can be restarted. For this, the supply from the station has been halted, and will be fully restored only by Tuesday afternoon,” a KWA official said.
“Measures like increasing pumping will be taken to manage the situation. The tail ends will face water shortage due to a lack of pressure, which is the immediate issue we face. The next course of action will be decided after comprehensive studies,” he added.