Amid challenges stemming from water scarcity in the city, Coimbatore Corporation officials announced that recycled water from the Ukkadam sewage treatment plant (STP) was being utilised to manage smoke emanating from the Vellalore dump yard.
This comes amid speculations that the civic body is using drinking water from the Mettur water tank and Sarada Mill Road tank at Vellalore, post the fire which occurred on April 6. However, Corporation Commissioner M. Sivaguru Prabhakaran said that drinking water was used the first three days after the fire accident.
“Eight fire tenders and 10 Corporation water tankers used potable water the first three days, , because clear water was needed to control the fire. Post that, pumps were installed to use groundwater and STP water,” Mr. Prabhakaran said.
As on April 16, 10 days since the incident occurred, the civic body supplied 30,000 litres of water from the Ukkadam STP and borewells to mitigate the spread of smoke, which has covered a radius of around 10 km from the dumping site.
While the total amount of water used is yet to be known, officials said that anywhere between two to three lakh litres of water has been used in the 10 days, after the fire was doused.
However, activists have highlighted the use of drinking water during a period of water scarcity in the city. They said that water was being supplied only once in every 14 days in several neighbourhoods, much to the dismay of residents.
“It is understandable if drinking water was used the first day, but that was not done because the civic body failed to take precautionary measures in time,” said K. S. Mohan, secretary of the Kurichi-Vellalore Pollution Prevention Action Committee.
