The city corporation council has decided to seek government’s immediate intervention in resolving the issue of water scarcity in various parts of the city.
The council will exert pressure on state government to hasten land acquisition and other works for the proposed Piravom water supply scheme, which will augment water supply to West Kochi and adjoining areas.
The acute drinking water scarcity took centre stage during the council meeting held on Thursday. Both ruling and opposition councillors raised the issue of acute water shortage in the city.
Answering questions raised by councillors, Mayor Tony Chammany said, “The Water Resources Minister will convene a crucial meeting to take the final decision regarding the cutting of the Piravom-Mulanthuruthy road for the Piravom project on April 21. Representatives of the corporation, presidents of local bodies concerned and MLAs will attend the meeting.”
According to the Mayor, the project can be commissioned by February next year.
The Rs 201 crore project was launched under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in 2008. It is expected to provide an additional 100 million litres of water to the city every day.
On Wednesday, the minister convened a meeting of officials of the Kerala Water Authority and land acquisition which decided to speed up the land acquisition process.
“The city’s daily need is 400 MLD water while daily pumping is below 200 MLD. The corporation is spending nearly Rs 2 crore from its own funds for water supply,” informed the Mayor.
Those who took part in the discussion were M.P. Maheshkumar, Syamala S Prabhu, K.R. Premakumar K.N. Sunilkumar, P.S. Prakash and N.A. Shafeek.