For the past more than seven years, a project has popped up every now and then, especially during summer seasons when the mercury soared high, with little progress thereafter.
The idea to convert abandoned stone quarries in the district into water storage receptacles to address drinking water shortage was first conceived by the district administration back in 2012.
In fact, the then District Collector P.I. Sheikh Pareed had even secured an in-principle approval from the State government in December 2012 to treat the water using reverse osmosis (RO) process and distribute it as drinking water using the drought-relief fund.
Quarry identified
The district administration had even identified an abandoned quarry at Ambalappara near Kakkanad where the project was to be launched on a pilot basis at an estimated investment of ₹33 lakh. The project gathered momentum as the local MLA, the Collector, and the representatives of the Kerala State Biodiversity Board visited the quarry.
The idea was to construct a small retaining wall around the quarry to conserve it like a rainwater harvesting centre, treat 15,000 litres a day by using a cost-effective technology, and to extend the project to at least 30 more abandoned quarries.
In 2013, the Kudumbashree Mission was roped in and asked to develop a business model for marketing purified water for the pilot project.
Later, an Australian company came up with a proposal to replace the RO technology with an additional layer of purification using ultraviolet and ozone sterilisation.
But things came to a standstill thereafter before the project was ‘reborn’ in 2015 when Thrikkakara municipality in its budget proposed a ₹20-crore drinking water project for treating water from an abandoned quarry. The proposal met with a premature end yet again as the municipality shelved it on the ground that it was too expensive.
The current municipal chairperson, Sheela Charu, had little knowledge about the proposal and said that the municipality has proposed alternative micro drinking water projects centred around public wells.
