Increased power cut is equal to reduced water supply. This is the new equation that the city's residents are forced to live with as the Coimbatore Corporation's motors in water supply network also suffer the power cut.
Sources in the civic body say that the problem happens wherever the Corporation uses motors to pump water to overhead tanks or sumps for distribution, and also where it uses motors to pump water from borewells.
Each of the five zones has around 200 borewells, which the Corporation also uses for street supply.
Motors
With the increase in power cut, the civic body runs the motors as and when it can to maintain, if not augment, the supply. The impact, the sources say, is that the supply will be erratic because the civic body will be able to supply only when the motors runs.
They explain that the erratic supply is also on account of the time the motors need to run to supply to an area. If the power cut happens after the first area is fed, the Corporation will have to wait for power to feed the second area.
This will lead to a situation where tail-end areas suffer without water, the sources say, citing Singanallur, Ondipudur and neighbouring areas as examples. For the Corporation to supply adequate quantity of water to such areas it must run the motors for longer duration, which is not possible in the current power cut schedule.
As for potable water supply from Siruvani, Pilloor and Aliyar the Corporation is in talks with the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board for installing additional motors to boost pumping quantity.
A Corporation team recently studied the Bhavani and Aliyar drinking water schemes in this regard.
Commissioner T.K. Ponnusamy says that the civic body will soon table a proposal to the Council regarding installation of additional motors. This will help the Corporation tide over the impact of power cut and also Summer 2012.
