Since the onset of Southwest monsoon last month, the ghat regions of Coimbatore district have received bounteous amount of rainfall. According to the Revenue Department officials, the district had received 94 % of the average rainfall it received during the corresponding period last year.
Further, the catchment areas of dams such as Aliyar, Pilloor and Siruvani received heavy rainfall, and also the tanks in the River Noyyal system were filling fast.
Recently, the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board that operates and maintains the 32-km-long pipeline from Siruvani to Coimbatore detected a damage in the pipeline.
A TWAD board official told The Hindu that a 1,000 mm diameter giant pipeline was damaged due to heavy rain in Siruvani hills. The damage happened in between a 7 km stretch in the dense reserve forest area, where there was frequent elephant movement, the official added.
The work was temporarily halted when a herd of elephants crossed the area, said the official, adding the work is expected to be completed in three days.
The prestructured concrete water pipelines in the Siruvani scheme were installed more than 40 years ago.
Corporation Commissioner M. Prathap expressed confidence over uninterrupted water supply to the city because of heavy rain in the catchment area of Siruvani.
He also said the frequency of water supply to the Corporation areas have improved from 14 days to seven days, even before the rain. “Once the leak is fixed, we will be able to get the benefits and even increase the frequency of water supply to less than a week.”
