The Kerala Water Authority (KWA) has received two bids for the construction of a water treatment plant (WTP) for the Neyyar water supply project, a 120-mld initiative which has been plagued by delays.
The price bids submitted by the firms will be opened in 10 days’ time after the pre-qualification process is completed, KWA officials said.
Designed to provide 100 million litres of drinking water a day to the capital city, the project was re-tendered in June this year after the first work contract awarded to a Thiruvananthapuram-based firm in 2019 was cancelled. The remaining 20 mld will be distributed to four panchayats.
18 months’ time
The KWA has retained 18 months as the implementation period for the WTP work, revising an earlier decision to fix it at 12 months. Bidders had objected to the decision to cut down the implementation period, prompting the KWA to revert to the original 18-month deadline.
Estimated to cost ₹60 crore, the work involves the construction of a WTP with plate settler technology (lamella clarifier), a floating water intake structure, pump sets, an electrical substation building and installation of SCADA system.
Alignment
On another front, the alignment of the transmission main from Neyyar to PTP Nagar in the city — a distance of 23.8 km — is yet to be finalised. The pipeline construction is being taken up as a separate project funded through the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).
While the KWA plans to lay the pipeline under the road, KIIFB prefers to have the alignment shifted to the side of the road. But the latter proposal would also mean additional delays caused by potential land acquisition requirements and disputes, according to the KWA officials.
