TIRUPPUR: In a first, drinking water will reach seven tribal settlements in Udumalaipet through a gravity-based pipeline system. Residents of Madavappu have waited 25 long years to get access to safe drinking water.
Speaking to TNIE, Mavadappu Moopar (village head) Kuppusamy said tribals were usually independent and do not depend on others for survival. Though they have small ponds, forest streams and wells, they dry out in summer, he noted. “So, we get water from a larger water stream from other tribal settlements, which is more than 12 km. Many village elders petitioned the forest department and local authorities but in vain. Finally, we got pipe water supply to our tribal settlement on Thursday and we thank the forest department."
Elaborating the scheme, Udumalai Forest Ranger C Dhanabalan said it has been a long-pending demand for seven tribal settlements - Mavadappu, Kuzhipatti, Kattupatti, Poochakondapalayam, Kurumalai, Thirumoorthy malai settlement, Sodamalai — for bringing piped water supply to their settlements. He said a project titled Special Area Development Project (SADP) under the forest department was formed at an outlay of `65 lakh and was based on a gravity-based water pipeline system. “We don't need an electric power supply for pumping water through motors. Furthermore, the system also filters the spring water through a slow sand filter," said Dhanabalan.
Dhanabalan said as the first step, forest officials and tribal people joined hands to locate perennial water streams in the forest range. He added they had problems stemming their way since all tribal settlements were located on hills and they had a hard time laying pipes through the rocky and muddy surfaces. “For the past 40 days, 30 members faced extreme temperatures, rains, and mountainous terrain and laid pipes for more than 37 km to all tribal settlements. Around 48 pipe rolls were installed in the project, each weighing more than 1.5 tonne,” he said.
The workers along with forest staff carried the pipe rolls through hilly terrain walking more than 3 km, sources said.