Mega project to solve water problems

KOCHI: The state government will allocate Rs 750 crore, apart from the Rs 200 crore allotted under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, to solve the water woes in the district, said Water Resources Minister P J Joseph here on Monday. Speaking after a high-level meeting convened to sort out various key issues, the minister said that together, the projects would provide 290 MLD of water apart from the 240 MLD supplied now. “It has been learned that leaks and breakages in the pipeline are leading to widespread contamination of potable water here. This is caused mainly due to old concrete-primo water pipelines. The `750-crore project will solve this issue and all the concrete-primo pipelines will be replaced. An amount of `10 lakh will be sanctioned on Tuesday to cater to the pre-monsoon issues pertaining to water supply. Moreover, the govt is ready to allocate up to `3 crore to replace old and leaking pipelines in the West Kochi area. Once it starts, this project will be completed within four months. The amount will be sanctioned within two or three days,” Joseph said.The minister also said that he will push the demand to replace all the pumps and motors which have been used for more than 10 years by the KWA. “I will also see to it that the KWA has adequate number of standby pumps and motors in case the usual ones stop working. It also needs to store pipelines so that urgent repair works can be completed without delay,” he noted.He instructed the KWA officials present at the meeting to conduct surprise checks in all the pump houses to ensure that the equipment are in proper working condition. Joseph also directed the officials to look into the claims of the contractors regarding delay in clearance of bills.“The KWA had conducted quality checks on 1,088 samples of water collected across the district last year. Out of those, only 50 samples were found to be impure, most of which were collected from the West Kochi. The problem there is that when the water supply gets disrupted, people use suction pipes, through which impure water from outside will enter the pipeline,” KWA officials said.It was also decided to involve the chemistry departments of St Albert’s College, the Maharaja’s College, Sacred Heart College and the School of Marine Sciences (CUSAT) to check the quality of water supplied through tanker lorries.