The Piravom Drinking Water Project is likely to be delayed with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) denying sanction to the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) to lay pipes on service roads under it. According to NHAI officials, as per the guidelines, none of their tarred roads can be cut open.
The plan was to complete the 201-crore potable water project by August this year. The project, if commissioned, is expected solve the water woes of West Kochi.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking involvement in the matter. Meanwhile, the NHAI officials have suggested that the Corporation (which is implementing the project under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission) should utilise other points on the edge of the road if they need to lay the pipes.
“Unless we receive the sanction, we can’t go forward with the work,” said Pradeep, assistant executive engineer. As per the project, water will be drawn from Pazhoorkkadavu on the Muvattapuzha river and then brought to the Maradu Water Treatment Plant. The recycled water will then be supplied, mainly to West Kochi. Meanwhile, the rest of the pipe-laying works are going smoothly with 70 per cent of the work between Pazhoor and Arrakkunam Road being completed.
According to the officials, the work is expected to be completed by March so that the Public Works Department (PWD) officials can re-tender the road by then. Pipes will be laid down at the area near the Arakkunam Road within a week. According to the officials with the project, they had been waiting for sanction from the Social Forestry Department to lay pipes in this route as there are trees. “We decided to cut down the trees as it is the only way we can avoid unnecessary cutting of the roads in the adjacent area,” the official added.
Meanwhile, the cutting of the roads without disrupting the underground cables is also proving to be a slight problem. For the past one-and-a-half year, stiff opposition had arisen from the public regarding the laying of pipes.
However, the public protest died down after a new alignment was fixed.
