ALAPPUZHA
The much-delayed work to replace 1,524 m of defective pipeline under the Alappuzha drinking water project is likely to begin next month.
As per the decision, 1,084 m of faulty pipeline at Thakazhy and another 440 m at Kelamangalam will be replaced.
The Alappuzha drinking water project was executed by the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) with Central assistance under the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) in 2017. However, since its launch, pipelines under the project have burst more than 45 times, majority of them at Thakazhy, in the past three years, disrupting the water supply to residents in Alappuzha municipality and eight nearby grama panchayats along with damaging the Ambalappuzha-Thiruvalla road. Last month, the pipeline burst twice—one each at Thakazhy and Kelamangalam.
Although a high-level meeting convened by Water Resources Minister K. Krishnankutty in November 2019 decided to replace the defective pipeline in three months, the process got delayed largely due to a lack of permission from the Public Works Department for digging the road. Further, as directed by the government, KWA prepared a tentative schedule for starting the pipe-relaying work on March 18. However, the work never got off due to COVID-19 pandemic.
A. Sheeja, project manager, UIDSSMT said they now hoped to begin the work after the end of the southwest monsoon. “As per the government decision, we are going to carry out the work after digging the road. The pipes needed for the work have already been brought to the work site. For restoring the road after completing the pipeline work, we have submitted a ₹4.91 crore estimate to the Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB), the owner of the road, for vetting. Although the PWD has already given its nod through a government order, we will only start the work after getting permission from the KRFB. As the water table is high in September, we hope to begin work by October or November after getting the final nod,” Ms. Sheeja says.
She said a 55-day window would be needed to complete the entire work. Officials said 1,000-mm high-density polyethylene pipe would be replaced with 900-mm mild steel pipe. The pipe relaying would be done by the same contractor who laid the pipeline and bore the cost of the mild steel pipe.
The road restoration work would be carried out by the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society.
