Summer hasn’t set in fully yet, but ground water is depleting fast in Aluva and surrounding areas.
Officials at the Kerala Water Authority said complaints had been flooding in from the public at the Aluva municipality regarding depleting water in wells.
Lissy Abraham, Chairperson, Aluva municipality, told The Hindu that acting on people’s complaints, she had asked tanker lorry operators not to collect water from Aluva. She had also written to the District Collector on the issue.
Tanker lorries were expected to obtain licences and they must display the specifications of the water quality. However, these were not being followed strictly, said Ms. Abraham.
R. Ramachandran of the Ernakulam District Drinking Water Transporters’ Association said demand for water had not increased these days. “We have taken up the issue with the Aluva municipality and the District Collector”, he said.
The Health department, which was tasked with checking the quality of water from time to time, took up the exercise when there was a sudden spurt in demand and increased supply by tankers, said District Medical Officer N. K. Kuttappan. However, so far, there had not been any such reports.
An official in the health department said that while the quality of water was satisfactory when the intake was less, once the demand rose, quality norms were usually thrown to the winds.
Anil Augustine, assistant executive engineer, Kerala Water Authority, said the ground water levels needed to be checked in the aftermath of the floods last year as there could be issues affecting the natural springs underground, some of which could have been cut off. It could be the reason why there was less discharge into wells.
He said there was no shortfall in the quantity of treated water produced at the Aluva plant. Besides, the KSEB would step up its production of electricity in the coming days at its hydro power stations, thus releasing more water downstream of the Periyar. This would ensure sufficient water in the river for intake by the treatment plant, he said.
