Thripunithura and nearby areas have been acutely affected by water scarcity with water level going down drastically in the Muvattupuzha river at Ramamangalam, from where water is taken for the Choondi water treatment plant.
Sources in the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) told The Hindu that even though the Choondi water treatment plant was producing 46 million litres of treated water a day after enhancing the capacity recently, the low water level in the river has brought the production and distribution down to 23 mld, less by 1 mld than what it was before the expansion.
Besides Thripunithura municipality, which is the major consumer of Choondi water, other affected areas are Chottanikkara, Puthenkurisu, Udayamperoor, Thiruvaniyur, Aikaranadu and Poothrikka grama panchayats. Industrial supply to Hindustan Organic Chemicals and Philips Carbon has been cut off because of the shortage. Milma, which is another industrial consumer to which water is provided by the Thripunithura sub-division of KWA, has also been affected.
It was only recently that the capacity of the Choondi pump was enhanced which made it possible for people in Thripunithura to get water on all days.
The operation of one of the two pumps was first stopped on December 15 afternoon, but restarted after a few hours. The operation was stopped again on December 17. In the past five days, the supply went own by half.
It is learnt that low power generation at Malankara dam has affected the release of water into the river. Low production at Malankara is a result of low power production at Moolamattom.
KWA authorities pointed out that the intake pipes at Ramamangalam are lying exposed at present. Water can be sufficiently taken into the intake well only when the pipes lie fully submerged or at least three-fourth of them are submerged.
A check dam that is under construction across the river at Ramamangalam, 100 metres downstream the intake well, would take at least another 45 days to be completed. The check dam was necessitated because of lack of water in the intake well during summer.
However, the situation usually aggravates towards the end of January, when the river flows mostly at the far-end side of the intake well. Every year a temporary bund is required to bring water to the other side.
The Irrigation Department started construction of the check dam earlier in March-April this year to cut the recurring costs on building bunds.
KWA senior officials told The Hindu that the District Collector and MLAs in the areas have been informed of the situation.
