Kochi : Several places in the city, especially in Vaduthala, Pachalam and Vyttila, have been facing sustained water shortage for the last few months. Though water shortage is not a new issue in the city, very rarely has the problem persisted for more than two months. Kerala Water Authority (KWA) hasn’t been able to do anything concrete to resolve the issue so far.
“To improve water supply to the city and surrounding areas, setting up a 190 million litres per day (MLD) water treatment plant at Aluva is crucial. At the discussion, it was decided to invite tender for the construction of the 190 MLD water treatment plant by Nov 15. A water storage tank with a capacity of 50 million litres will be constructed at Thammanam to improve pumping of water to tail end areas,” said S Ratheesh Kumar, superintending engineer, KWA.
But they couldn’t pinpoint any specific problem,” said Henry Austin, councillor from Vaduthala. “The district collector convened a meeting to discuss the issue last month, but the water shortage still continues to hit these areas,” said V P Chandran, councillor from Vyttila. “Water shortage has been an issue in Vaduthala and Pachalam for the past few years. However, the issue has persisted for the past two months without any resolve. After several rounds of protests, officials with the KWA and the private firm deployed for carrying out the maintenance of the water supply system in Kochi, conducted inspections in the area. KWA officials also attended the meeting. The minister has asked the KWA managing director to submit a report on finding a lasting solution to the water woes in Kochi. Govt will take steps to resolve the water crisis based on the report.
On Tuesday, the MLAs from Kochi had a meeting with water resources minister Mons Joseph to discuss the issue.