Almost two weeks after a pipe burst at Thakazhy disrupted the distribution of potable water to residents in Alappuzha municipality and eight nearby panchayats, the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) restored the water supply on Tuesday.
“We have fixed the leak and started normal water supply in the municipality and nearby areas by Tuesday morning,” said an official.
Latest incident
The latest burst, which occurred on October 30, had left thousands of families without running water for the past several days.
The repair work was hampered after the Public Works Department (PWD) delayed its permission to the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) to dig up a portion of the Ambalappuzha-Thiruvalla road to fix the leak. However, after several rounds of talks between officials of the Water Resources Department and the PWD, the latter accorded its sanction on Saturday.
Although, the leak was plugged on Monday, authorities decided not to start pumping after a new crack was found on the pipeline close to the earlier leak at Thakazhy.
However, after examining it further, they decided to go ahead with pumping.
The Alappuzha drinking water project was executed by the KWA with Central assistance under the UIDSSMT.
However, since its launch in 2017, pipelines under the drinking project have burst more than 40 times, including 30 major bursts at Thakazhy, in the past two-and-a-half years, disrupting the water supply and damaging the Ambalappuzha-Thiruvalla road.
Permanent solution
As a permanent solution to the issue, a high-level meeting held on Monday decided to replace 1,524 metres of defective pipeline in three months. Officials said that the work to replace the pipeline would begin next month.
As much as 1,084 metres of faulty pipeline in Thakazhy and another 440 metres in Kelamangalam will be replaced. As part of it, 1,000-mm high-density polyethylene pipe will be replaced with long-lasting 900-mm mild steel pipe.
CPI charge
Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (CPI) has alleged corruption in the implementation of the Alappuzha drinking water project. The party has demanded a vigilance probe into it.
