TVM residents' struggle for water enters 6th day; lapses of KWA officials, contractor under probe

Thiruvananthapuram:  While the KWA completed the shifting of pipelines as part of railway doubling works, scores of city residents in various wards struggled without water on the 6th day. Over 200 families at Melarannoor near Karamana complained that only air is coming out of the taps. KWA officials claimed that people are not getting water due to the air block on taps. Residents of Poojappura Pai Road also raised complaint on water supply disruption.

However, the  Kerala Water Authority claimed that it completely restored the water supply in Thiruvananthapuram corporation on Tuesday morning. Though the pumping was started on Sunday night, the majority of the people in high-level areas of the city complained that they could not fetch a single drop of water from the taps at their houses. The Corporation has deployed tanker lorries to supply water in the affected areas.

Manorama News reported that water pumping to high-level areas like Edappazhanji, Vattiyoorkkavu, Kodunganoor, Arappura and Melankodu was not resumed on Monday. Amid the criticism, Kerala Water Authority (KWA) has assured that the water supply will be completely restored by Tuesday morning. 

Meanwhile, KWA conducted a preliminary investigation into the water crisis in the city and found that lapses of the officials and contractor led to the issue. Following this, it deployed a technical member to conduct a detailed probe and submit a report within two days. Further action will be taken based on the report.

KWA initiated an internal probe on Monday after facing severe criticism over the unannounced water supply disruption. Realignment of pipelines as part of the track doubling work on the Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil railway line led to the disruption in water supply in the city. Over five lakh people in 44 wards of the corporation were affected due to the poor coordination of the officials in carrying out the work. Apart from the public, ministers and MLAs also questioned the KWA's lapses. On Monday, KWA summoned an emergency meeting and observed that there was serious negligence on the part of the officials in launching the pipeline realignment work without proper preparations. The meeting also assessed that officials failed to establish an alternative mechanism to restore water supply when the work got delayed.

Before starting pipeline work, the officials in charge should summon a crisis management meeting to discuss the possible impacts. Proper arrangements should be made to handle the emergencies. However, the KWA officials neglected all these protocols. The officials had planned to restore the water supply partially on Tuesday noon after installing the valves. But a leakage was detected during the pumping and KWA was forced to suspend the supply. The restoration of the water supply was further delayed due to unexpected faults in the realignment of the pipes.