THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as the state capital is gearing up for another local body poll, many issues faced by residents, like scarcity of clean water, continue unaddressed. After many years of planning and blame games, the state government is now moving the High Court seeking to expedite the setting up of a plant at Neyyar
Thiruvananthapuram faced one of the worst water crisis in 2017, following which the government decided to implement multiple water treatment projects on a war footing to ensure uninterrupted drinking water supply to the city residents. However, two projects — the upcoming 75 MLD (million litres per day) plant at Aruvikkara and 120 MLD plant at Neyyar — remain incomplete. Currently, the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) is supplying around 280 MLD water to the city.
This quantity, however, is highly inadequate, as the actual demand is over 360 MLD. The city is now dependent on a single water source, causing severe water shortage. The panchayat areas are the worst hit. According to official sources, the work on the 120-MLD plant at Neyyar, being built as an alternative water source for the city, has been stalled inordinately owing to legal disputes over the land identified for the project.
“Currently, the plant at
Aruvikkara caters to the old city areas, including Statue and Secretariat. Due to malfunctioning and maintainance, the water supply gets disrupted. Around 2,000km of pipeline network takes a minimum of three to four days to repair and for the supply to be reinstated.
The upcoming water treatment plant will be a solution to this and possible increase in water requirement once the Vizhinjam port is established,” said the officialLegal solution to disputes Back-to-back legal disputes, with parties claiming rights on the land identified for the water treatment plant are one of the reasons why it remains a pipe dream.
Now, the company heading the project has moved the court demanding financial coverage for the cost escalation incurred due to the delay. Recently, the secretary of the irrigation department carried out a visit to the site to assess the status of the project. The KWA has been asked to submit a report.
“The state government has decided to move the High Court seeking intervention. Around six acres of land belonging to the government has been identified for the project. Unfortunately, some of the parties who had earlier taken the land onlease have moved the court. As per the legal opinions, their claim will not stand as the land belongs to the state government. We will be giving a status report to the secretary soon,” said an official.
Panchayats to benefit
The upcoming 75 MLD plant at Aruvikkara is supposed to benefit around 1.25 lakh people living in panchayats including Aruvikkara, Vellanad and Karakulam. The plan is to divert around 15 MLD of water to panchayat areas. “We will be able to commission the plant by December. The pandemic caused delay, or it would have happened by March,” added the official.
water treatment plant at Neyyar : 120 MLD
Project cost - J60 crores
Allocation for laying supply networks : J200 crores
Project status : stalled
Expected time of completion : by 2021water treatment plant at Aruvikkara
75 MLD
Project cost : J56.29 crores
Status : yet to be commissioned
Approximate number of water supply connections in city limits (as of 2019)
Palayam : 27385(domestic : 21901)
Pattoor : 29531( domestic : 24045)
Kowdiar : 20595(domestic : 16699)
Peroorkada : 19047 (domestic : 16554)
Pongumoodu : 37196 (domestic : 32092)
Thirumala : 35652 (domestic : 31061)
Karamana : 38230 (domestic : 32597)
Kuriathy : 42479 (domestic : 36167)
Thiruvallam : 16009 (domestic : 14538)