Work to replace defective pipeline in Alappuzha district to begin soon

The Ambalapuzha-Thiruvalla road, which would be dug up for carrying out the work, will be restored simultaneously

A meeting chaired by Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine has decided to immediately begin the work to replace the defective pipeline under the Alappuzha drinking water project.

In a statement issued here after the meeting held in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, P.P. Chitharanjan, MLA, said that a 1,200-metre pipeline at Thakazhi would be replaced on a war footing. Mr. Chitharanjan said the Ambalapuzha-Thiruvalla road, which would be dug up for carrying out the work, would be restored simultaneously.

The move to replace the defective pipeline comes after an inordinate delay. Although a high-level meeting convened by then Water Resources Minister K. Krishnankutty in November 2019 had decided to replace the pipeline in three months, the work never took off due to various reasons.

The Alappuzha drinking water project was executed by the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) with Central assistance under the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) in 2017.

Multiple bursts

However, since its launch, pipelines under the project have burst more than 60 times, majority of them at Thakazhi, in the past four years, disrupting the water supply to residents in Alappuzha municipality and eight nearby grama panchayats, along with damaging the Ambalapuzha-Thiruvalla road.

H. Salam, MLA, officials of the KWA and Kerala Road Fund Board were among those present at the meeting.