Corporation Mayor V.V. Rajan Chellappa is convening an emergency meeting with engineers on Friday (April 5) to find a permanent solution to the water scarcity in D.R.O. Colony here as residents have been staging protests for the past one month demanding regular supply of drinking water.
He has already asked the officials to work out a plan to solve the water problem in that area since the ground water yield has come down drastically.
The Mayor’s attention on D.R.O. Colony comes in the wake of a protest by residents, men and women, on Thursday over the Corporation’s move to disconnect drinking water pipeline near A block in the colony and divert it to K.Pudur which is close by.
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When the civic body staff came to snap/disconnect the water supply connection on Thursday morning, scores of residents came out and protested. Heated arguments took place near the official residence of Additional Collector G.K.Arun Sundar Thayalan where they had gathered and members of the residents’ welfare association called the zonal chairman to convey their objection to the Corporation’s hasty decision.
“We have to find a quick solution to this issue because there are representations from people of K.Pudur and Manmalaimedu asking for regular water supply. Our original plan is to fill up water in two sumps (60,000 litres) in D.R.O.Colony and divert the existing pipeline to nearby areas,” Mr.Rajan Chellappa told The Hindu on Thursday.
The residents of D.R.O. Colony are, however, against the Corporation’s plan to disconnect the water pipeline and they have threatened to stage demonstrations if any injustice is done to their area.
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“There are 606 housing board quarters in our area and thousands of people in this locality are already facing acute water crisis. We will not permit the authorities to touch the pipeline,” S.Kannan, secretary, D.R.O.Colony Housing Board Residents Welfare Association, has said.
A.Nisha, a resident who is working in Public Works Department, has urged the Corporation authorities to dig four deep bore wells immediately in the colony as the existing ones have no water yield.
Meanwhile, the Corporation Mayor inaugurated a water filling station in Mangalakulam in Zone-2 here on Thursday. A water tank with 30,000 litre storage capacity was constructed and from there two lakh litres of water will be supplied in two lorries to various areas in North Zone, including Karpaga Nagar, Uthangudi, K.Pudur, Masthanpatti, Melamadai, Thasildhar Nagar, Sathamangalam, Anna Nagar and K.K.Nagar.
R.Nanthagopal, Corporation Commissioner, A.Mathuram, City Engineer in-charge and other officials participated in the inaugural function.