A major leak near the Kummi pump-house, due to a burst in one of the four water transmission main lines from Aruvikkara, affected water supply in several areas in the city on Saturday. Repairs are on and according to the Kerala Water Authority (KWA), water supply is expected to be restored before Sunday noon.
The burst, due to a crack in the 1200mm pre-stressed concrete (PSC) transmission main, was noted in the wee hours of Saturday and efforts to plug the leak began around 9 a.m. Ashok Kumar Singh, Managing Director, KWA, and P. Sreekumaran Nair, Chief Engineer (South), who were among the top officials who rushed to the spot, said the work was expected to be completed by 6 a.m. on Sunday.
The areas that were reported to be affected on Saturday included the Observatory Zone, Vanchiyoor, Statue, Kowdiar, General Hospital, Medical College area, Pattom, Murinjapalam, Vellayambalam, Bakery Junction, Chakka, Pettah, Pattoor and Shangumugham.
Four executive engineers of the utility were taking turns in monitoring the repairs, in which the broken portion was being cut and replaced by a mild steel (MS) pipe.
The leak occurred on the pipeline road, a little ahead from the Kummi pump house, and which has three other transmission mains passing side by side. This has forced the engineers to exercise extreme caution so as not to damage the other pipes.
Frequent bursts
According to KWA officials, the PSC pipe, commissioned in 1998, is notorious for bursting repeatedly and inconveniencing KWA consumers in a major portion of the city.
This was one of the reasons the KWA had decided to lay a new MS pipeline from Aruvikkara to Peroorkada at a cost of Rs.49.11 crore, work on which was expected to start shortly.
