With the term of the current Kochi Corporation council set to end in a few weeks, the civic administration is attempting to revive a bottled drinking water supply project that did not take off despite an ambitious launch in 2016.
Of the three plants that were set up four years ago, one each at Ravipuram, Edappally and Fort Kochi Veli, only the one in Fort Kochi is still running.
The Ravipuram plant is likely to begin operations soon, according to local councillor David Parambithara. “The project is to be handled by Kudumbashree groups. Though some groups had expressed willingness to take up the supply at Ravipuram, they eventually backed out. After years of trying to get a group to take it up, five members have come forward to run the plant,” he said. The place was cleaned and the water recently sent for testing, he added.
The plant was set up at a cost of ₹25 lakh in association with the Kerala State Women’s Development Corporation, and had been lying defunct for the most part of the past four years.
While the project initially involved selling a 20-litre can of water for ₹20, that amount might not be feasible any more considering the amount it could cost to supply the water, said Mr. Parambithara.
The plant at Fort Kochi, which is being operated by three Kudumbashree members, had hiked the rate of the can from ₹20 to ₹30 to meet the expenses of handling logistics. The Kudumbashree group had purchased a goods autorickshaw to supply the cans and had to pay off the loan taken for the vehicle, said Sheeba Lal, councillor representing Fort Kochi Veli. The COVID-19 cases in several places in West Kochi had briefly hit their supply when they would not be allowed to cross the barriers of containment zones, but till then, it had been running fairly well with a supply of 200 to 300 cans daily, she said. The plant was still operating much below its capacity, but lifting, loading, transporting and delivering the cans was a time-consuming process for just three people.
Soumya Sunil, who is part of the three-member team running the project in Fort Kochi, said the COVID-19 restrictions had hit them hard. The closure of banks, schools and homestays meant that business had dipped. The cost of hiring another vehicle and driver for supply, besides having to pay off the loan on their autorickshaw, had been eating into the little revenue they were making, she said. While they began as a five-member team, two women dropped out when they found it difficult to bear the weight of the 20-litre cans.
Of the ₹30 from each can, ₹10 would go towards the operations of the plant, ₹10 would be paid to hire the second vehicle, and only ₹10 was left to for the three of them together, she said. The cost and the prospect of paying off a loan could be keeping other groups away from running the other two plants, she added.
