Separate pipeline proposed to address erratic water supply at Valanthakkad

Ashokan N.B., a 47-yr-old from Valanthakkad island, Maradu municipality, faces difficulty in fetching water due to low pressure & high/low tides. 46 families, mostly SC, are affected. KWA admits coverage is only 60%. A petition was lodged & KWA officials visited to check. A separate pipeline is proposed as a lasting solution. Air blocks to be removed for temporary relief.

For many years now, Ashokan N.B., a 47-year-old born and brought up in Valanthakkad, an idyllic island in Maradu municipality, has been left with a task that often breaks his humdrum of daily life.

It happens whenever the water taps, which even at the best of times dispense water at a pressure and pace that tests one’s patience, at his house along the southern tail end of the island go dry. That is a sign for him to drop all other works to get into a country boat with pots to paddle his way to fetch water from a tank on the other side.

“But even that becomes a tough task during times of high and low tides, not to mention the spread of water hyacinth that makes rowing the boat near impossible. But being surrounded by saline water, we are left with no other option but to fight the odds,” said Mr. Ashokan from one of the 10-odd families badly hit by erratic water supply.

Valanthakkad island, Division 22 of the Maradu municipality, is home to 46 families, predominantly belonging to the Scheduled Caste. Even by the Kerala Water Authority’s own admission, the water supply coverage for the island is just over 60%. Water from the Maradu plant is pumped to an overhead tank at Kundannoor from where a pipeline is drawn through the waterbody to the island.

“Houses here are at considerable distance, which means that the pumping pressure fizzles out by the time it reaches the fag end of the supply line. Residents of the island had lodged a petition with the KWA office at Thripunithura the other day about the erratic water supply,” said Reshmi Sanil, municipal vice chairperson and councillor for the Valanthakkad division.

According to Municipal chairman Antony Asanparambil, water supply to the island gets hit whenever there is a disruption in the line leading to the formation of air blocks. It takes a few days to remove air blocks and restore normalcy in supply, he said.

Ms. Sanil along with KWA executive engineer Jayaprakash P. and assistant executive engineer Preman A.R. visited the island on Thursday to take stock of the situation.