It has been 15 days since the Coimbatore Corporation supplied drinking water, is the refrain that one hears from residents in Vadavalli.
The residents say they were better off when the area was under the then Vadavalli Town Panchayat administration as they got water supply once in four to five days. Thereafter the water supply cycle worsened from once in six days to once in eight days. Then it became once in 10 days to the current once in 12 to 15 days.
The residents get River Bhavani water that the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD Board) supplies by tapping it at Thekkampatti, near Mettupalayam, and treating at Chellappanur. The water first reaches the overhead tank in Kavundampalayam and from there fills the tanks in E.B. Colony, Sandhaipettai, Thiruvalluvar Nagar, Onapalayam and a few other areas.
Of the 11 million litres a day (mld) pumped under the drinking water scheme, the Corporation supplies 5.5 mld to Kavundampalayam and a little less to Vadavalli. The two areas also get an additional two to three mld from the Pilloor drinking water supply scheme.
All this is only on paper and the reality is very different, rues S.N. Srinivasaraghavan, a resident of Vasantham Nagar. He says after 15 days, the Corporations supplied water a couple of days ago and that too for half an hour.
The water when stored for more than four days turns unfit for cooking, adds R. Balasubramanian, a resident of VNR Nagar.
The Corporation water supply managers say that the recent delay was on account of maintenance that the TWAD Board had undertaken in the scheme.
This explanation is unacceptable as the situation has been worse for over six months now, says Ward 16 Councillor Kumutham Kuppusamy. He alleges that the Corporation diverts Bhavani water to Thudiyalur and Somayampalayam.
Coimbatore Consumer Cause secretary K. Kathirmathiyon says as the water supply situation in Vadavalli after the implementation of the Kavundampalayam - Vadavalli drinking water supply scheme is worse, the officials should explain the rationale behind spending Rs. 30 crore on the project and also tell the residents where the civic body supplies water
