Water supply to seven wards covering Chinna Allapuram, Allapuram, Thorapadi, Sainathapuram, Pananthoppu and parts of Virupatchipuram has been suspended from Wednesday to facilitate pipe-laying work. Water from Iraivankadu headworks is brought to Keezhmonavur pumping station and from there it is supplied to a tank at Rajiv Gandhi Nagar near Periya Allapuram. Corporation officials said that due to a leak at a point in the pipeline near Bishop David Nagar water was getting wasted. The pipeline had become old and was leaking for more than three months, they added.
Officials said they were not able to carry out the repair all these days as the supply to wards 39, 40, 41, 42, 49, 50 and 51 through this pipeline could not be suspended during summer. Now that the rainy season has started, private borewells in houses have got recharged. Hence, to facilitate the repair work, the supply would be suspended for a week from Wednesday, officials informed.
The new pipeline would be replaced for a length of up to 40 feet, officials said and added that the work was expected to continue for a week. Until the repair work was completed, water would be supplied through tractors and lorries to these wards.
Apart from the leakages at several points including the one at Bishop David Nagar, the councillors complained that a separate pipeline had been drawn to Viruthampet to supply water, which was one of the reasons for the decrease in the supply to Allapuram and Thorapadi. In addition to this, water was also drawn at 21 points on the way to Rajiv Gandhi Nagar tank. Due to these reasons, only one-third of the total supply, which was pumped from Keezhmonavur, reached the tank at Rajiv Gandhi Nagar, councillors said.
It may be noted that the Corporation had allotted Rs 3 lakh from the general fund for 2013- 4, to plug water leakages between Keezhmonavur pumping station and the water tank at Rajiv Gandhi Nagar.