To overcome any difficulty it may have on the water supply front in Summer 2013, the Coimbatore Corporation has initiated a few measures.
Disclosing the details, Commissioner T.K. Ponnusamy said that the civic body planned to link the Siruvani distribution network with the Pilloor distribution network at a few points in the city.
It arrived at the decision after studying the pipeline map of the two distribution networks. By linking the two networks, the Corporation would be able to supply Pilloor water to a majority of the Siruvani-fed areas, thereby offsetting any foreseeable drop in Siruvani supply.
Mr. Ponnusamy said that the civic body initiated the measure following Chief Minister’s direction to address residents’ water needs.
As per the proposal, the Corporation would link the two water supply pipelines at R.G. Nagar, Tatabad, Race Course, Shoba Corner and Kannappan Nagar. This would benefit residents of around 25 wards. Only a few areas where the Siruvani pipeline network could not be linked would not gain.
At Kannappan Nagar, the Corporation would replace a 500 mm pipeline to improve the supply there. All such pipe linking projects involved a meagre amount and the Corporation was doing it at its own expense. The work at R.G. Nagar and Tatabad was already complete. At Shoba Corner, the civic body would complete the work by Tuesday night. And at other places within the next 10 days. The total cost of the work would be less than Rs. 50 lakh.
The move to link the Siruvani and Pilloor networks comes even as the Coimbatore Corporation has sought the Commissioner for Municipal Administration’s approval for linking the Pilloor storage reservoir in Ramakrishnapuram with the Siruvani storage reservoir in Bharati Park. The cost of this project is around Rs. 17 crore.
An additional measure the civic body has proposed to improve water supply is the 24x7 water supply scheme for the old Corporation area, which now forms 60 wards. The Corporation plans to take up the work under the JNNURM II scheme.
