Temperature soaring over 32 degrees Celsius in most parts of Ernakulam and little or no rain since late January this year, Kochi and suburbs have begun to show first strains on drinking water supply. But the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) has dismissed any immediate problem and said supplies are now at near normal levels, despite increased demand triggered by rising temperature and shortage of supply from other sources.
Maradu municipal chairman Antony Asamparambil said the KWA had addressed the issue of acute shortage in some areas of the municipality early this week. He added that water shortage was experienced in areas like Nettoor, Valanthakkad, and Kannanikkad, and the issue had come up before the municipal council for discussions. He said the council members were forced to protest in front of the office of the KWA chief engineer in Kochi to get the situation remedied.
KWA sources said the problem stemmed from a disruption in pumping of water from the Pazhoor pump house. Though pumping was stopped only for a brief while, it took the better part of a day for supply to be normalised.
The municipal chairman said the KWA should ensure that 120 MLD of water, which is the municipality’s share, was made available.
Antony Kureethara, the Kochi Corporation council member from Fort Kochi, said areas in West Kochi such as Mattancherry and Fort Kochi were seeing insufficient supply. There were water tankers still in operation in these areas owing to the inadequacy of pipe water supply, he claimed. He pointed out that wards at the tail end of the supply lines were still not served well.
He also said that water supply duration had now shrunk to around 45 minutes a day after which the pipelines run dry. Though there is adequate water now for essential drinking water requirements, the coming days will put a strain on the supply system, he added.
The water supply situation in Vypeen and the coastal segment up to Njarakkal has not faced any serious shortage of supply so far, the KWA claimed on Saturday. The supply in these areas was ensured with water pumped from Vaduthala and North Paravur.
Meanwhile, a strike by maintenance contract workers may cause some delay in repair works, KWA officials said. The contractors are on strike to get their payment dues.
