THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The summer has brought back the water crisis to the capital yet again leaving residents living in mountainous areas high and dry. According to KWA authorities, the capital city is facing a shortage of 80 MLD water as consumption goes up by three to four times because of the summer.
Many residential areas in the capital have started facing water crisis with the advent of summer keeping the water authority officials on their toes. According to sources, KWA would require roughly Rs 30 crore more to tide over the water crisis this summer.
It is learnt that during summer time, water consumption goes up by 20%, widening the supply and demand gap. The KWA supplies around 535 million litres of treated water everyday in Thiruvananthapuram district of which 360 MLD is being supplied exclusively to the city areas. The KWA caters to around 12 lakh people in the corporation area including the floating population. As part of the Jal Jeevan Mission, KWA is planning to give water connections to another 6.8 lakh households in the rural areas of which around 2.78 lakh have already been covered. During summer last year, KWA supplied 10 MLD more water to meet the growing demand. Thirumala and Peroorkada are some of the areas facing the water crisis in the capital.
KWA Chief Engineer (Southern Region) Prakash Idikkula told TNIE that the authority has decided to overload all existing water treatment plants in the district using additional pumping mechanisms to meet the additional demand during summer for the city residents. He said KWA has already increased the production to cover the beneficiaries of the Jal Jeevan Mission in the rural areas.
“City currently faces a shortage of 80 MLD and we have decided to scale up the production to tide over the summer. We are in the process of giving more water connections as part of the Jal Jeevan Mission. Now with the advent of summer, water consumption is three or four times more than normal time. Compared to other years, we are able to manage the supply better this year and some of the pockets in the capital face a water crisis and we are managing it through valve operation,” said Idikkula. The authority has procured two water pumps at Aruvikkara for additional pumping during summer.
“Once the 120 MLD plant at Neyyar Dam is commissioned, we would be able to address the crisis. As much as 100 MLD would be exclusively for the city and 20 MLD for nearby panchayat areas. The project is likely to be completed this year.”
As part of the Jal Jeevan Mission, water treatment plants are coming up in various locations which would generate 80 MLD of water, he added.
“In addition to this, an 80 MLD plant funded by KIIFB (Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board) is also coming up. Both the projects are estimated to be completed by 2024,” he said.
Special squads to monitor water levels, leakage
In an effort to ensure water supply without disruption, KWA has deployed special squads to monitor the water levels every hour. Besides, KWA has formed two more squads to detect and fix the leakage to avoid wastage. “The squads would report to us if the water level goes down and we would address the issue immediately,” said a KWA official.
The authority has regulated the valve operations to make it more scientific. “Now, valve operations can be done only with the consent of an executive engineer. We are managing the current crisis by supplying more water to areas facing scarcity through valve operations. There had been many complaints because of unscientific valve operations earlier,” said an official.
Water theft a major concern
Theft of water from public taps is becoming a matter of concern for the Kerala Water Authority. “Theft is a major issue and people who are not having authorised water connections take water from the public taps using hoses at night. There are around seven or eight such pockets in the city. Our squads are out to catch such violations. The only way is to seal such public taps. But often, the ward councillors intervene to avoid sealing of public taps,” said the official. The KWA has identified that more than 80,000 households haven’t taken water connections. “We are in talks with the city corporation to give water connections to these households to avoid theft. The civic body has received funds under the urban agglomeration scheme which can be used for giving supply connections. This is one way to address the theft issue. We are going for a tender to give new connections to these households,” said the official.
Leaks at houses
Loss of water due to internal leakage at households is becoming another challenge for KWA. “Because of such leaks, the consumers are paying more bills. The public should use water responsibly and check the water meters and screen the usage and find out leaks. Fixing such leaks would help save water and bills,” the official added.