DHARMAPURI: Municipality officials announced that the water supply in Dharmapuri town will be erratic for the next few days due to a damages main pipeline which carries water from Panchamapalli. Officials said steps would be taken to supply water from local sources and the Hogenakkal water supply project, and appealed to people to use water judiciously.
Dharmapuri Municipality supplies over 12.5 MLD of water through the Panchapalli drinking water scheme, Hogenakkal Integrated Drinking Water and Fluorosis Mitigation Project and local well sources. This is supplied to over 65,000 households in the 33 wards of the Municipality. But, due to the flooding in the Chinnar dam, the key pipeline transporting water from Panchapalli to Dharmapuri Municipality has been severely damaged. Officials stated the damage is difficult to repair because of the flooding.
L Madesh, a resident of Ambedkar Nagar, said, “For the last three days we have not been provided with water. Not all residents have Hogenakkal drinking water connection at home. Many have to get water from tanks and if the tanks are not filled properly, there will be severe drinking water scarcity.”
N Anandh Natrajan of Bharathipuram said, “This year we have had good rains and this replenished groundwater. Most people use groundwater as main water source. But the water has high fluoride content and prolonged consumption of water is not good. The Municipality must restore water supply as soon as possible.”
Municipality officials said, “The Panchapalli water provides over 5 MLD of water to the Municipality and local sources provide over 2.5 MLD of water to the Municipality. Through the water available we will ensure a fair supply of water, they said.”
Commenting on the difficulty in renovation they said, “The pipeline is been submerged because of flooding of Chinnar dam, so it is extremely difficult to assess the damage. We would ensure water is regulated in the upcoming two days.