Tiruchi and Coimbatore cities seem to have escaped the adverse effect of monsoon failure, but Madurai is the worst hit.
With its requirement of more than 150 million litres a day (MLD), Madurai relies essentially on the Vaigai dam, whose level is precariously low with 27 feet against the full level of 71 feet. Ironically, around the same time last year, the level was about 46 feet. To sustain the present supply of 92 MLD, the Corporation, which has sunk 500 new borewells, has started identifying private borewells and sources outside the city.
With the supply being done through tankers once in four days, complaints of irregular supply are on the rise. This has led to a greater demand for 100 private water lorry operators, who have jacked up the rate. A 6,000-litre load costs more than Rs. 900, whereas it did not exceed Rs.650 last year.
The drought has not spared 55 manufacturers of packaged drinking water either. They complain that they are unable to meet the increasing demand as their sources have dried up. They also depend on tankers.
However, in Tiruchi, life is not so difficult. The recently commissioned drinking water improvement scheme and the check dam built across the Cauvery have helped to ease the water scarcity this summer. On an average, 100 MLD is being supplied.
Though the Tiruchi Corporation says it is making daily supply to areas like Edamalaipattipudur that earlier had the supply on alternate days, N. Alagusubramanian, general secretary, Edamalaipattipudur Federation of Residents Welfare Associations, says: “We are getting supply only for 20 minutes on alternate days.”
But the local body terms these complaints reflections of the teething troubles and hopes to rectify them soon.
Coimbatore is also sitting pretty as residents in a good number of wards get regular supply.
(With additional reporting by S. Poorvaja in Madurai, S. Ganesan in Tiruchi and Karthik Madhavan in Coimbatore)
