Nearly a decade after several parts of a conduit line that brings drinking water to the city got damaged, Chennai Metrowater is about to complete repairing just half the line.
The pipeline with a capacity of 190 million litres per day (mld) is used to convey raw water drawn from the Red Hills lake to the Kilpauk Water Works for treatment and supply to city residents.
It is the latest of the three conduit lines running for 10 km.
The oldest pipeline of brick construction with arched roofs was constructed in 1914 and has a carrying capacity of 104 mld. The second one was developed in 1955 to transport 146 mld.
Both are still functional and were largely used until recently.
However, the third line, constructed in 1986, was damaged in many portions a decade ago.
It is this line that is being reconstructed as a concrete box channel to convey water with an improved capacity of 230 mld, Metrowater officials said.
Initially, Metrowater had proposed repairing the entire line at one go and waited for quite a while. Later, it realised that it could take years to remove encroachments as officials were met with resistance in many parts. Therefore, two years ago, Metrowater decided to take up the repair for 5 km, which was free of encroachments.
Officials said nearly 95% of the work has been completed on the stretch between the intake tower of the Red Hills lake near Surapet and Rajamangalam.
At present, work is on at various stretches of Kadappa Road and Water Canal Road, Korattur to reconstruct the pipeline.
As work to reconstruct an inspection chamber is on progress on the Kadappa Road junction near Puthagaram, residents are taking a detour through Vallalar Street and Thiruvalluvar Street. With unexpected rain lashing the city, residents want the work to be completed before the northeast monsoon.
Inspection chambers
As the huge pipelines run underground, inspection chambers would be used to check for any damage and to monitor water flow. “We still have to complete work on a 100 m portion near Sivaprakasam Nagar, Surapet, owing to encroachment clearance. Work is also in progress to interlink the three lines near Kadappa Road,” said an official. Work to repair the line running beneath the Inner Ring Road, which was delaying the ₹39.20 crore project, is also likely to be over in a month.
Improvements on the rest of the stretch, particularly along New Avadi Road, remains an issue. As people have constructed houses on the land above the pipeline, officials are unable to even study the requirements. Officials have proposed fencing the vulnerable portions till Rajamangalam to prevent further encroachments.
