The turbidity in the Periyar continues to be higher than usual, but it has not seriously affected the production of drinking water at the Aluva treatment plant which has cut back water supply by only 15%.
Water supply to Aluva and Kalamassery has not been affected, though supply to other places is a tad less. With a fall in demand for water owing to rain, the slight shortfall in production has not affected people, officials of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) told The Hindu .
They added that while the opening of the Edamalayar dam had increased the turbidity 15 times more than the acceptable levels of 20 to 50 nephelometric turbidity unit (ntu), it had come down to 75 ntu over the past couple of days, as rain and water had washed away the silt. Turbidity below 100 ntu is manageable, they said.
Turbidity did not come down as expected because of the Periyar overflowing into the banks and receding later, taking with it much of soil, flora, and dirt from the land.
The pump houses at Parakkadavu and Vengoor were submerged after the Periyar water level rose. Maintenance work is now on at the two pump houses as the water had entered the pump sets, besides disturbing the filter beds.
The other pump houses at Malayattoor, Illithodu, and Puthenvelikkara, to which power supply was suspended by the KSEB as a precautionary measure after the water level rose in the Periyar, are now operational.
Tanker operators have begun collecting water from wells in Kalamassery, Kakkanad, and Thripunithura, according to R. Ramachandran of the Ernakulam District Drinking Water Transporters’ Welfare Association. “The demand is much less than in summer. We are getting only around 25% of the peak season demand,” he said. The Aluva headworks and Chowara pump house have enough water for distribution using tankers, said a KWA official.
Eloor and Aluva municipalities have piped water connections in almost all houses, hence the river water entering homes had caused much hardship to residents. Meanwhile, Eloor municipal vice chairman M.A. John said sanitation work was under way in the municipality. There were 10 relief camps in the municipality, of which only three are functioning now.
Incidentally, Aluva had no relief camps, as most people had shifted to their relatives’ houses, said municipal chairperson Lissy Abraham. However, sanitation work is in progress in the municipality, and awareness sessions are held.
