Water Schemes For Kavundampalayam, Vadavalli
Pipes being laid at Vadavalli near Coimbatore city for a new drinking water scheme that is expected to be completed in mid-2009. Vadavalli, a suburb 10 km west of the city, hopes to supply drinking water every day once a Combined Water Supply Scheme is completed.Kavundampalayam, a municipality on the city’s north western border is the other beneficiary of the scheme.Both local bodies are struggling to meet the rising demand for water as new buildings, including multi-storeyed apartments, keep coming up.The local bodies are already worried over the poor yield from the South West Monsoon for the Siruvani Dam. The scheme envisages a supply of 11 million litres for Kavundampalayam and 5.5 million litres for Vadavalli. Kavundampalayam gets 4.56 million litres now. Of this, 34 lakh litres is from the Siruvani scheme and the rest from the Pilloor scheme. But, this quantity is not enough to meet the demand from 8,241 water connections and 313 roadside taps for the below poverty line families.
“We are able to supply water only once in eight or nine days,” says Municipal Chairman K.M. Sundaram. “The new scheme will help in supplying water on alternate days.” The focus is on ensuring that work does not get held up so that the scheme is completed in mid-2009. Both the local bodies say that the original deadline of December 2008 cannot be met as works had been held up by various factors, including the rise in steel price during April. Main pipes over a distance of 60 km, from Thekkampatti to Chellappanur were laid in April itself.
Water will be drawn from River Bhavani at Thekkampatti, treated at a plant at Chellappanur and then supplied to Kavundampalayam and Vadavalli. Mr. Sundaram says barring some stretches of Mettupalayam Road, lines for internal distribution have also been laid.“We need permission from the National Highways Authority of India to lay pipes over a stretch of 330 feet.“We have halted pipeline works in some areas along this road because we do not want existing lines damaged during times of water shortage,” he says.
As for water tanks, Kavundampalayam is yet to begin works on all the seven for its local supply. Construction materials have arrived.The works may begin anytime, the Municipal Chairman says.As for Vadavalli, the town panchayat says 80 per cent of work on one of the eight tanks has been completed.Two other tanks have reached the foundation stage. Pipe laying works are on at a brisk pace. But, tanks are taking time.The town panchayat now gets a measly 7.65 lakh litres of Siruvani water.
