THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The recently tarred Althara - Thycaud smart city road will be cut open again owing to the apathy and lack of coordination between agencies including Kerala Water Authority, Kerala Road Fund Board and Smart City Thiruvananthapuram Ltd (SCTL).
Hundreds of residents along the stretch are facing water supply disruption for the past one and a half months due to the ongoing smart road works in the stretch. It is learnt that due to the ongoing road construction, the 400 mm primo pipes of the KWA have bursted in multiple locations disrupting water supply to many residential areas. Though the residents have been raising this issue, the authorities have failed to fix the issue and restore the water supply.
On Tuesday, representatives of five residents associations in the area staged a protest at Vellayambalam KWA office demanding immediate restoration of water supply. Several residential areas including CSM Nagar, Udara Siromani Road, Palottukonam, Althara and Mettukada areas are suffering from water supply shortage.
“We have been facing water supply disruption for nearly two months now. We took it up with the authorities multiple times but the issue remains unresolved. Today we went to the KWA office and the response was disappointing. We are paying the KWA and they want us to take it up with the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS), the agency executing the smart road work,” said joint secretary Suresh Babu, CSM Nagar Residents’ Association. “When we argued, they promised to resolve the crisis by this Saturday. They were saying there are three leaks in the pipe and only one of it has been plugged,” said Suresh.
Sumesh Krishnan, who coordinated the protest by the residents’ association, said that lack of coordination between departments led to the crisis.
“Power, water and network issues are rampant in the stretch due to the smart road works and there is no coordination between the agencies. If they don’t fix the issue by Saturday, we will intensify the protest,” he alleged.
According to KWA, the issue will be resolved once the new pipelines laid as part of Smart city road works are charged.
A KWA official said the water disruption happened because of the age-old pipeline burst owing to the construction activities. “It would have been better if the new pipelines were charged before tarring was done. They have laid only one layer of the tarring. We will have to cut open the road at Althara- Manaveeyam for the work. We will do the work in the next two days and by Saturday the issue will be resolved,” said the official.
Areas to be affected
The KWA has informed that drinking water supply will be disrupted in various parts of the city from 8am on Thursday to 5pm on Friday. Curbs are in place due to the smart city work on the Althara-Mettukada stretch where new lines are being charged and merged with old lines. Areas that will be affected are Palayam, Statue, MG Road, Secretariat, nearby areas of AKG Centre, General Hospital, Kunnukuzhi, Thampuranmukku, Vanchiyoor, Rishimangalam, Chirakulam, Pattoor, Moolavilakam, Palkulangara, Pettah, Anayara, Karikkakom, Oruvathilkotta, Poundkadavu, Veli, Chackai, All Saints’, Vettucaud, Shanghumugham, Althara, Vazhuthacaud, Cotton Hill, Edapazhanji, Mettukada, Valiyasala, Thycaud, PMG Junction, Law College, Kumarapuram, Kannanmoola, Poonthi Road, Sasthamangalam, Paippinmoodu, Jawahar Nagar, Nanthencode, Kowdiar and Vellayambalam