: With a population of over one lakh, Tripunithura is reeling under severe water scarcity. Though the demand is for 15 million litres (mld) a day, the Choondi water treatment plant delivers just 7.5 mld. When the plant was commissioned in 2009, 10 mld was promised to the town.
Going by the official response, the plant produces 23 mld, but the net water reaching the overhead tank in Eroor for distribution is much less. Officially, tapping is done from the transmission line for 1.5 mld for two companies Hindustan Organic Chemicals and Philips Carbon. Yet another tapping is of 2 mld for the Pannikuzhi panchayat.
After the tappings, the Karingachira sump should get 19.5 mld. The Tripunithura sub-division takes over the distribution from here. Five mld of water is pumped to the Hill Palace tank to be distributed to Udayamperoor, Chottanikkara and Thiruvamkulam panchayats. From the rest of 14.5 mld, 0.45 mld goes to the Ernakulam Milma Dairy from a tapping on the transmission line from Karingachira sump to the Eroor water tank.
So, KWA should be able to provide 14 mld to the municipality, but it gets only 7.5 mld. The chairman of Tripunithura Rajanagari Union of Residents Association, V.P. Prasad, alleged that the town is losing out of the full quota of water as no water audit has been done. “Residents surely want to know where all that water is disappearing,” he said. Except for the two weeks when water shortage was reported in the Ramamangalam River, the plant is producing to its present capacity, said officials at the Choondi plant.
Since the quantity for distribution is less, all of 7.5 mld is provided to one side of the town consecutively for two days. Two days to northern Tripunithura towards Eroor and the next two days to southern areas towards the main town.
The arrangement is to resolve the complaints of residents at the farther end of the distribution line, said an official at Tripunithura subdivision of KWA. Earlier water was pumped to both sides every alternate day. But residents at the farther ends failed to get water.
KWA should be able to provide 14 mld to the municipality, but it gets only 7.5 mld.