KOCHI: The apathy of Kerala Water Authority (KWA) has hit several West Kochi localities hard, with some residents forced to live without enough water for nearly a month. Residents of Chellanam, Fort Kochi, Mattanchery, Mundamveli, Kumbalangi, Kumbalam, Vyttila and other areas in West Kochi have been facing acute water shortage as KWA failed to carry out proper and timely maintenance of pumps at the pumping stations.
“Taps went dry mid-January in some areas and from the first week of February in a few others,” said V T Sebastian, a Chellanam resident, who blamed KWA for the crisis. “Entire West Kochi gets water from the pumping station in Pazhoor. All three pumps at the station have gone silent now,” he said.
He said earlier, the drinking water for West Kochi was sourced from the Periyar. “The river water used to be treated at Aluva pumping station and supplied to West Kochi. The supply used to be irregular,” he said. Later, KWA began sourcing drinking water from the Muvattupuzha river under a new project, he said, adding that the water would be pumped to the treatment plant at Maradu and after treatment, drinking water would be supplied to various places.
“Things were going well. Now, the situation is bad due to the delay in carrying out pump maintenance,” Sebastian said. Rangadasa Prabhu of Ernakulam District Residents Association Apex Council said some places do not have wells and people there have to depend on the KWA supply for daily needs. “Supplying water through tankers is not a solution. The authorities have built huge water tanks, but many of them are empty,” Prabhu said.
The Facebook post by District Collector Renu Raj, about pressing water tankers into service to mitigate the scarcity, has not gone down well with residents. Mundamveli resident Mercy Lonappan, who is differently-abled, said she tried contacting the KWA when the taps went dry. She was told the supply will resume by Wednesday. Nothing happened.
“The water from the wells here is not fit for anything, let alone drinking,” Mercy said. Mundamveli councillor K J Prakashan said several residents in the far reaches of the locality are struggling to get water. “I tried making use of water tankers that can carry 2,000L to 5,000L of water. However, it wasn’t enough to meet the people’s needs,” he said.
Residents of Mundamveli, Thoppumpady and Palluruthy also complained that the water, whenever it is supplied, was of poor quality. Prabhu said this happens as the pipelines are very old. “The cast iron pipes corrode over time and develop cracks, which not only lead to leakage but also cause entry of foul water from nearby canals, drains and other water bodies. Many have developed health problems after drinking this impure water,” he said.
A KWA official confirmed this. “The issue is not at the source. Once the pumping stopped, dirty water might have entered the pipes in large volume through the cracks,” the official said. Explaining the reason behind the water scarcity in around 20 wards and two panchayats of Kochi, a KWA assistant engineer said two of the three pumps at the Maradu plant went out of order at the same time, leading to a drop in efficiency from 93-95 per cent to 43-44 per cent.
(With inputs from Noel Mathew)
Supply water in tankers, collector tells local bodies
District collector Renu Raj on Thursday gave stern instructions to the local bodies to supply water from the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) in tankers in West Kochi and nearby areas. KWA’s tanker lorries would supply water at various places under Kochi Corporation, Maradu municipality, and Chellanam, Kumbalangi and Kumbalam panchayats.
“The repair works of the pumps are progressing on a war footing. An expert team from Thiruvananthapuram reached Maradu, and inspected the pumps. The pumps are damaged due to problems in the shaft,” a communication from the collector’s office said, adding that the officials are trying to take out the pumps from the water tank for repair.
The collector’s office said that once the three pumps are repaired, the water supply issues will be resolved. Three pumps of 804 HP capacity have developed faults. This has resulted in shortage of supply in West Kochi, South Chellanam and Vaduthala areas.
Meanwhile, the Kerala Latin Catholic Association (KLCA), Mundamveli unit, has petitioned the chief minister seeking a foolproof solution to the issue. As per the petition, water shortage has been plaguing the West Kochi area for more than two weeks. KLCA petition highlighted how due to the incursion of salt water, bore wells and wells have become useless.