The work on the Purapallikkavu bridge-cum-regulator on the Periyar that began one-an-a-half years ago, is yet to be completed with the crucial shutters not yet in place.
However, the project, being implemented at a cost of Rs.110 crore, would be completed by December as per schedule, said a senior official in the Irrigation Department. Every year, the Kerala Water Authority has been spending lakhs of rupees for building temporary bunds to check the intrusion of saline water that would affect the intake of the Aluva water treatment plant.
The district collector, in a series of meetings with the KWA, Irrigation Department and the panchayats affected by the work, had sought a status report on the water supply situation in the coming months as a crisis was looming large because of the shortage of rain.
Bund on Choondi
Yet another area of concern for the KWA had been the Choondi treatment plant, where raw water intake during the summer was a problem owing to the low level of water in the intake well.
In Choondi too, a temporary bund was built every year to impound enough water in the intake well. However, most regions in Tripunithura, Chottanikkara, Udayamperoor, which were served by the project, faced shortage of water.
This year too, a temporary bund would have to be built as the proposal for a permanent check dam was sanctioned only recently. The Irrigation Department is drawing up a fresh design and estimates. The previous estimate had pegged the cost of the project at Rs. 11 crore.
The only hitch in speeding up the work is the transfer of the administrative sanction given to the KWA to the Irrigation Department, said an official. If the work begins in January, the bund would be ready for the 2018 season, the official said.
