A 14-member Navy team that includes divers began on Sunday the work to remove the mud and gravel deposited in the intake chamber of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA)’s water-pumping facility in the Pazhassi reservoir, near Mattannur, which disrupted water supply under the Pattuvam Water Supply Project here funded by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The team of Navy divers had reached Mattannur on Saturday in a Navy aircraft that landed on the runway of the Kannur International Airport under construction. They were joined by personnel from the Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala here. The Navy sent the team on a request by District Collector Mir Muhammad Ali. Mud, filth, and gravel inside the intake chamber following the recent flooding and landslips in the region had disrupted pumping of drinking water from the reservoir for 11 panchayats and two municipalities under the Pattuvam project for the past three days.
“The work by the Navy team to clean the intake chamber started this morning,” said KWA Superintending Engineer C. Jayaprakash. The team located the intake chamber by the afternoon and the work to remove the deposits was in progress, he added. The Pattuvam project under JICA supplies drinking water to Pattuvam, Kurumathur, Chapparappadavu, Kalliassery, Cherukunnu, Kannapuram, Mattul, Pappinissery, Ezhome, Pariyaram, and Kadannappally, and Taliparamba and Anthur municipalities.
