For the residents of P.N. Pudur, Seeranaickenpalayam, and a few other localities that the Coimbatore Corporation hitherto served Siruvani water, it has been over 25 days since water was supplied.
After the water level went below the dead storage level in Siruvani Reservoir, the civic body said it would supply Pilloor water through water tankers to the aforementioned areas that come under five wards that are completely Siruvani-fed.
But as water supply through tankers began a few days ago, things turned worse for the residents. The most affected are working women.
P. Rajeswari of Ponnusay Nagar II says for office goers like her, it is difficult to fetch water from tankers because the Corporation does not announce the schedule. The other problem is that as water tankers do not reach out to all residential localities, for senior citizens in some places it turns out to be a long walk with water pots, laments R. Sundararajan of Chidambaranar Street.
The supply of salt (ground) water from bore wells is no good either, says R. Vasanthamani, a resident.
To highlight the problems, the Communist Party of India observed a fast in P.N. Pudur on Sunday. The party said that local functionaries of ruling parties have completely hijacked the water tanker supply system. In a few places, the suppliers demand ₹10 as bribe from residents. In other places, they take the water tankers to influential pockets leaving others in lurch. The Corporation should devise a system in place where the residents get to know the date and time of water supply. The supply should happen under official supervision, the protesters demanded. Former CPI MLA M. Arumugham and party leader Kalyanasundaram led the protests.
In the backdrop of widespread concern about water supply in the next few months, the trickle of good news is that it had rained eight mm near the Siruvani dam on Saturday.
Corporation sources say they have deployed 10 tankers to supply water to the Siruvani-fed five wards. The lorries take water from the tank near Vadavalli bus stand. To other areas, the Corporation has rationed supply of Pilloor water to once in 12 to 15 days.
Singanallur MLA N. Karthik too has expressed apprehension about the drinking water situation. If the Corporation could supply water only once in 12 days now, how will it manage during summer, he wonders.
