Kochi residents reel under water shortage and contamination
Kochi: City residents are suffering from two crucial issues related to drinking water supply: water shortage and contaminated water. While people in West Kochi have been getting contaminated water through KWA pipelines for the past few months, those in Ponnurunni, Vyttila and Petta areas hardly get potable water most days.
According to Fort Kochi residents, KWA officials are not taking any steps to address the issue despite repeated complaints regarding water contamination. "Water contamination has been persisting for the past three-and-a-half months. KWA officials won't attend to the complaints of people. They would cite the lame excuse that there aren't adequate workers," said CPM Fort Kochi local committee secretary Clay Stephen.
"Following works like those done by CSML, many KWA pipes have been burst. Around 80% of the pipes pass through drains. Once pipes burst, contaminated water from drains would gush in. Along a 2.5-km stretch from Beach Road to KJ Herschel Road, pipes have burst at five spots. It has been remaining unrepaired for the past several months," he said.
Protests by locals are almost a routine affair in Fort Kochi area. Around 10am on Monday, 15 residents from Polakkandam market area went to KWA office in the area.
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Though they waited there for almost an hour for complaining, no officials turned up at the office. "We are depending on bottled water supplied by private agencies to meet our daily needs. Water is visibly murky and it has a foul smell as well," said Nadira, a resident near KJ Herschel Road.
Corporation opposition leader Antony Kureethara said many places in Vypeen also face similar issues. "Pipe bursts cause not only contamination but water shortage as well," he said.
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n Ponnurunni, Petta and Vyttila, people are agitated over inadequate supply of drinking water. "We brought the issue to the notice of authorities several times. Locals also took out protests," said Ponnurunni division councillor Dibin Dileep. "Until a few years ago, regular supply of water had been there in our area. Later, KWA reduced the supply to alternative days. They gradually reduced the supply hours too.
Initially they reduced the supply time on alternative days to 22 hours and now it is around 16 hours," he added.
According to KWA officials, old, dilapidated pipes are causing frequent bursts. "Govt has given nod for ADB project which aims at revamping water supply system in Kochi city. Dilapidated pipes will be replaced with new ones. Moreover, the 190 million litres a day (mld) water treatment plant proposed at Aluva has been included in the ADB project. This will help address issues like water shortage, contamination and loss," said a KWA official.
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