The Kerala Water Authority (KWA) is likely to set up over 10 water vending points at its plants in the district for private tankers to collect water as part of Operation Pure Water. Water vending points will be set up at Aluva, Maradu and Choondi by Friday.
“For the time being, water tankers are collecting water from wells in Aluva and Kalamassery as KWA is not equipped to provide enough water for distribution in the city,” said Ramachandran of the Ernakulam District Water Transporters Welfare Association.
The District Collector had ordered that tankers should not collect water from wells in the district as part of ensuring the quality of water. The order was based on a directive by an Assembly Committee.
However, water tanker owners had complained that there were not enough KWA hydrants from which water could be collected.
According to senior KWA officials, water vending facilities are limited at the storage tanks at Perumannoor and Thammanam located in the city.
Facilities for vending water from these tanks could not be enhanced considering traffic snarls they could create on busy roads. So far, about 25 loads of water are being collected a day from the Perumannoor storage tank. This is against the requirement of about 2,000 loads of water being transported every day.
According to KWA officials at the Aluva plant, they have received application from water tanker owners for collecting water.
However, it is also learnt that water tanker owners are concerned about the cost of bringing water from Aluva, Nettoor and Choondi plants to the city.
