KOCHI: Even as the district is experiencing water shortage with peak summer days yet to dawn, a project conceived with much fanfare five years ago to convert abandoned quarries into water storage receptacles as a solution to drinking water crisis remains as good as shelved.
The project had its genesis during the term of then District Collector P.I. Sheikh Pareed who had secured in-principle approval from the State government in December 2012 to treat the water accumulated in abandoned stone quarries and supply it as drinking water through reverse osmosis (RO) using the drought relief fund.
The district administration had even identified an abandoned quarry at Ambalappara near Kakkanad where the project was to be launched on a pilot basis at an estimated investment of ₹33 lakh.
The idea was to construct a small retaining wall around the quarry to conserve it like a rainwater harvesting centre, treat 15,000 litres a day by evolving a cost-effective technology, and to extend the project to at least 30 more abandoned quarries if the pilot project was found successful.
In 2013, the Kudumbasree Mission was roped in and asked to develop a business model for marketing purified water for the pilot project. The agency was also to be entrusted with the management of the plant.
The project had assumed greater business potential by then as an Australia-based company came up with a proposal to replace the RO technology with an additional layer of purification using ultra-violet and ozone sterilisation. The firm advocated solar energy by mounting the treatment plant with solar photovoltaic panels capable of generating 20 kilowatts.
However, not all were convinced. According to experts, while the water collected in such quarries could be used for construction and similar purposes, its treatment for drinking water could prove expensive.
Five years thence, it has proved prophetic as the Thrikkakara municipality has shelved the project, though the previous governing committee had revived it in its budget by allocating ₹20 crore.
“The project was found to have little scope for long-term yield, and water treatment was also found to be expensive. Instead, we have replaced it with other drinking water projects like revival of abandoned ponds and wells,” said Thrikkakara municipal chairperson K.K. Neenu.
Meanwhile, the Mining and Geology Department said that no such proposal was being pursued for now. Besides one abandoned quarry at Mamala near Puthencruz, which is being utilised for water supply, no other quarry has been identified for similar purpose, sources said.
