THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When a resident witnessed a pipe burst at Panicker’s lane on Monday, he was quick to diagnose the problem. “ It was caused by the huge truck which passed by,” G Soman said. Sounds familiar?
Most Thiruvanantha-puram residents often witness similar pipe bursts caused by trucks. What they don’t realise are that such pipes are GI pipes laid several decades ago and if they are in house connections, that the consumer themselves should replace them.
The government had also passed an order some time ago stating that the GI pipes in house connections should be replaced with PVC pipes, according to KWA Superintending Engineer Leena.
Unless the pipe is a common line supplying water to many households, the consumer needs to bear the charges of replacement. A senior KWA official said that there were no plans to replace all GI pipelines. The official said that KWA would replace pipes of a region only if there are frequent reports of pipe bursts. Sometimes individual connections begin outside the house compound. Many consumers who are unaware of this, enter into a tug of war with KWA officials, upon learning that they themselves have to bear the cost of repair. The pipe burst at Panicker’s lane was also an individual connection and is an 0.75 inch GI pipe. Since the house near it is not occupied, the connection has been cut.