THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It was a Sunday ‘devoted’ to attending to leaks and bursts for the Kerala Water Authority (KWA). The bursts, one near Vydyuthi Bhavan and the other along Marappalam-Pattom stretch, kept the KWA busy. The burst near the Vydyuthi Bhavan at Pattom, which happened in the wee hours, saw the compound wall of a house in Manganoorkonam Lane being washed away, damaging an Innova car and a bike parked there. A portion of the kitchen of the house - ‘Shivoham’ of M Viswam, a businessman - also got damaged. Water also flowed into nearby houses. It was the 6-inch AC pipeline here which burst around 3 am, courtesy the drainage work being carried out by the Kerala Road Fund Board, said a KWA official. The water, after filling up the plot, flowed down into the houses located at a lower terrain, by around 4.30 am. “We got up hearing a loud noise. Soon, we realised that it was the sound of the compound wall coming down. Water had been filling up in the compound above since 2 am and when it overflowed, it flowed down, damaging our compound wall, a portion of which fell on our car and bike. We were all shocked hearing the noise,” said Viswam. Though the burst happened in the early hours, the KWA knew about it much later. “As soon as the KWA helpline was intimated, the valve was closed,” said a KWA official. The leak was plugged later on Sunday morning.At Marappalam, the leak was detected by around 8 am. The 400-mm primo pipeline developed a leak, thus forcing the KWA to stop the supply to plug the leak. “Our feeling is that the leak occurred maybe due to the closing of the valve at the other location, which was near to this spot,” an official said. The areas along Kowdiar-Kuravankonam stretch, and the Pattom, Murinjapalam, Medical College areas were affected. The work is expected to get over by Sunday midnight. The KWA officials were highly critical of the Road Fund Board, saying that many bursts have happened during the road/drainage work. But the Road Fund Board officials, who admitted that the pipeline got burst during the road work, alleged that the KWA team was slow in responding even after they were informed about the burst. “It is Phase III development work happening here and we were constructing the retaining wall. As soon as the pipeline burst, we informed the KWA. But they didn’t respond then. Then we intimated the nearby police station. It was from there that the KWA team was informed. Even then, they were slow in responding,” said a Road Fund Board official.
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