The Coimbatore Corporation has planned to ask the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board to bring down the incidences of stoppage in Aliyar water supply scheme due to pipeline leaks.
According to sources in the civic body, the Corporation has not been able to supply Aliyar water to Kurichi and Kuniamuthur as it would like to because of disruption in supply in the recent past. They said that leaks have occurred on at least two or three occasion for one or two days each, forcing the civic body to stop supply because of leaks in the pipeline.
Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board supplies around 5 million litres a day Aliyar water by drawing it from the well in Athu Pollachi. It has laid 55 km pipeline for the purpose.
The sources said that every time the pipeline leaks, disruption in supply takes place. And residents who were scheduled to get water on the particular day would have to wait for their turn in the next supply cycle, which would invariably be another seven or 10 days.
Power crisis
Sources in the TWAD Board said that the leaks would soon be a thing of the past as the possibilities would come down drastically once it managed to overcome the power crisis. By the end of the month, the Board would install generator sets for the eight motors in Athu Pollachi, Achipatti and Thirunagar and arrange for feeder supply for the motors at Kinathukadavu and Kurichi.
Such an arrangement would mean that power cut did not affect water supply and also serve as a cause for leaks. They said that whenever power cut happens, water flows within the pipeline from opposite directions, given the gradient, and creates pressure at the joints, which give away.
They explained it as the ‘hammer effect.’
With continuous power supply, no such thing would happen and the Board would be not only able to supply water and also increase the quantity. The supply could go up from around 5 mld to 7 mld. This along with another 7 mld Siruvani water would meet the requirements of the residents of Kurichi and Kuniamuthur, they added.
