TIRUCHY: Even as the corporation is working towards ensuring 24x7 potable water supply across the city by next year, residents in several areas, particularly lesser developed ones, demand the 40-odd hand pumps to be retained for use.
R Selvaraj of Uyyakondan Thirumalai, said, "Even if the corporation provides piped water to every building, roadside hand pumps should continue to exist. They serve everyone -- from local residents to shopkeepers. Unless the roads are widened, there's no reason to remove the hand pumps."
Meanwhile, Chinnasamy, a vegetable vendor, said, "There's a pump near Uzhavar Santhai Road, but it takes a long time to draw water from it. It just needs fixing." "A lot of us still depend on it every day," he added.
Pointing to the hand pump in their locality, Shabeena Hamid of Beema Nagar said, "While we support the 24x7 water supply initiative, the corporation should not remove these hand pumps, at least not in underdeveloped areas. Even if the 24x7 project may ensure round-the-clock water supply, we would have to pay as per usage. But we don't have to pay for the water we fetch from public hand pumps; it is of great help for the poor."
When enquired, a senior corporation official clarified that the 24x7 water supply project does not call for the removal of hand pumps. "Most of such pumps are more than a decade old.
We're not installing new ones, but we will assess the condition of the existing pumps. Only those that are non-functional may be removed," the official said. "With 24x7 water access, we expect the dependency on hand pumps to decline over time," the official added.