40 mm rain @ Siruvani

The Coimbatore Corporation seemed a bit relaxed on Thursday as 40 mm rain was reported at the Siruvani Dam, the source of a drinking water scheme serving one half of the 105 sq.km. city.Mayor R. Venkatachalam said the water level remained at 23 ft for close to a week, despite 85 million litres a day (mld) being supplied to the Corporation areas, three municipalities and a clutch of town panchayats and village panchayats. Only because of steady rain, the storage was being maintained at this level, he said.

The Mayor said there were reports of water being received through two falls. “We are told that the Mukthikulam (in the upper reaches of the Siruvani hills) is full and surplus water is flowing into the dam,” he said. The situation indicated heavy rain in Kerala where the dam and the catchments were located. Heavy rain would bring water from the Mukthikulam to the dam through more than five falls. The Mayor said the storage would improve in a week if the heavy rain in the catchments continued.

Just like the Corporation, the municipalities and the panchayats in the suburbs too are waiting for the monsoon to turn vigorous. “We hope the situation will improve soon, going by the reports of rain we get from the dam,” Veerakeralam Town Panchayat President V.T. Bakthavathsalam said.The rain brought confidence back to the local body to step up supply of drinking water. “From once in eight days, we rescheduled it to once in 12 days during peak summer. With more rain being reported at the dam, we will switch back to the earlier schedule from the next cycle of supply,” he said.

Mr. Bakthavathsalam, however, said that the present allocation of four lakh litres a day was too low, as there was demand for more water in a growing suburb. “The town panchayats of Veerakeralam, Dhaliyur, Vedapatti and Thondamuthur require more water and we are requesting the Mayor and Corporation officials for a sizeable share from the Siruvani line that is proposed for the city alone,” he said. Veerakeralam alone required 1.2 mld to 1.5 mld, three times more than the present supply, he said.

Suburbs such as Kurichi, Kuniamuthur, Vadavalli and Kavundampalayam too look forward to a good monsoon like the last three years.Kavundampalayam Municipal Chairman K.M. Sundaram said that even during times of plenty, water supply was made only once in seven days. Austerity then helped in continuing with this schedule even during summer. The municipality got 3.6 mld (2.4 mld from Siruvani and 1.2 from Pilloor schemes). The additional one mld that the Corporation promised to provide out of its share had not been given for over a month, he said.Mr. Sundaram said that even if heavy rain eased the situation, staff shortage would affect water supply in the municipality. “We have only two pump operators, but we need 20 of them. We have diverted 24 sweepers and this has affected garbage removal,” he said.

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