Areas within the Maradu municipality limits have been battling a shortage of drinking water for the past five days. Municipality members protested against the Kerala Water Authority’s (KWA) laxity on Sunday near the water tank at Kundannoor.
“We were told that pipeline-laying work would disrupt supply for three days. But Sunday was the fifth day after work began on May 27 and work on the pipelines was still not complete,” said Moly James, municipality chairperson. Some residents had collected water that could have lasted three days, but the delay in resuming the pumping was unexpected, she said.
While the civic body had supplied tanker water to some areas, it could not reach all 33 divisions. “If the KWA had been a little more careful, the situation could have been avoided. Water in the wells is all saline and not potable,” she said.
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Work was mostly complete by Sunday evening and after the newly laid pipelines were washed out, supply was likely to resume, said a KWA official. Work was undertaken as part of a project to strengthen the distribution system in Maradu municipality by replacing old and damaged pipelines leading from the tank, he said. “Two days of rain had disrupted the work, raising the water table and making trenching difficult,” he added.