With the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board deciding to supply five million litres a day (mld) to the Coimbatore Corporation to check the Pilloor Phase II pipeline network, the Coimbatore Corporation has began the necessary work.
Sources in the civic body say that on Saturday morning the civic body had cut open the shell to link the Pilloor Phase I and Phase II supply networks.
The opening of the shell using welding machines happened at the 1,500 mm diameter mild steel pipeline near the Periyakombai Tunnel.
The place where the work happened comes under Package II of the Pilloor Phase II work covering pipeline for 1.2 km, from the tunnel to the water treatment plant in Vellingadu. The treatment plant comes under Package III of the scheme
The sources say that the water will first flow through the 1.2 km pipeline and enter the treatment plant, the capacity of which is around 125 mld.
It will then pass through pipelines that come under Package IV for 11 km, till the Kattan Hill.
As the waters flows, it will pass through an air valve and 24 scour valves in Package III and 24 air valves and 11 scour valves in Package IV.
The sources say that the civic body has used air valves at ridges to release air and scour valves in valleys to flush out dirt.
The Pilloor Phase II scheme's Package V covers the more than 20 km distance between Kattan Hill and the Main Storage Reservoir at Ramakrishnapuram and has 54 air valves and nine scour valves.
The sources add that the TWAD Board will increase the water supply to 30 mld in the days to come.
Once the pipelines and treatment plant are ready, the Corporation will be able to draw around 63 mld a day to meet the additional demand.
The civic body is implementing the work at a little over Rs. 110 crore under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission scheme. Meanwhile, Siruvani continues to overflow. On Friday, the Siruvani Dam recorded 21 mm rain and on Saturday 3 mm.
