The water-level in Peppara, the reservoir supplying potable water to the city, continues to fall at an alarming rate. According to officials with the Kerala Water Authority (KWA), the reservoir could ensure water supply for 50 days only. The KWA officials are in a Catch-22 situation as the move to bring water from Neyyar has hit a roadblock.
The usage of potable water from here is 400 million litre per day (mld), of which 300 mld is consumed by the city residents alone. KWA has not imposed any curbs on the supply of water so far. The project to bring water from Neyyar Dam is facing stiff opposition from the Forest Department, which is against laying pipes through forest land in Neyyar.
KWA is now pinning all its hopes on the North-East monsoon, which is expected to arrive by mid-October. “We will wait for one more week. If we get ‘Thulavarsham’ by that time, then we could manage. Otherwise, alternative measures such as bringing water from Neyyar must be taken,” said K P Krishnakumar, Chief Engineer, KWA.
There was a deficient rainfall this South-West monsoon season. Thiruvananthapuram district had received the second-worst rainfall in the state during the South-West monsoon, with a deficiency of 43 per cent. The district had got only 49.2 cm rainfall, against a normal of 87 cm.
The latest update of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) shows that maximum temperature of the district is appreciably above normal. The North-East monsoon, last year, was 5 per cent excess in the district.
In addition to the drinking water crisis, cholera outbreak is spreading panic among the coastal people. Though additional water supply is needed in the area to check the spread of the disease, the KWA is striving to meet even normal demand owing to the crisis.
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