A large number of residents of Alappuzha municipality and nearby grama panchayats have been left without water for the past one week after a Kerala Water Authority (KWA) pipeline burst near Thakazhy Temple Junction.
There are around five lakh consumers in and around Alappuzha town who depend on the KWA for water supply.
A 1.1-km stretch of the pipeline at Thakazhy had witnessed around 30 bursts in the past couple of years. The latest rupture was noticed last Tuesday. Following this, the KWA stopped water supply.
ADVERTISEMENT
By today evening
Officials said here on Monday that steps had been taken to restore the water supply.
“There was an initial delay in starting the repair work. The permission for carrying out the repair work was granted only on Saturday. The work is in progress and we hope to restart the water supply by Tuesday evening or Wednesday,” said a KWA official.
ADVERTISEMENT
An official said that tanker lorries had been deployed to distribute water to residents. “There is a shortage of water. But we have initiated measures to distribute water through tanker lorries. People are also drawing water from borewells and reverse osmosis plants,” the official added.
Frequent bursting of pipes supplying potable water under the Alappuzha drinking water project causes hardships to the residents. In May, the residents were left without water for more than two weeks following a series of pipe bursts at Thakazhy.
Centrally aided project
The Alappuzha drinking water project was executed with Central assistance under the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT). As part of the project, a new pipeline was laid and it was launched in 2017.
Recurring pipe bursts and digging of road for repair works have also damaged the reconstructed Ambalappuzha-Thiruvalla road.