A new pump house in Aluva that will draw water from Periyar is expected to solve the water crisis in Ernakulam, but the completion of the project is far from sight.
The supply of the proposed pump house about two years ago is expected to increase the supply of 143 million liters (ml) per day to the district. According to Kerala Water Authority (KWA) officials, the current supply is more than about 350 million, while the estimated demand was pegged at over 480 million, when proposals for the new plant were prepared.
Currently the district gets 100 million liters of water from the pump house at Maradu and is supplied from the existing pump house at Eluva between 250 and 280 mL. The Maradu plant gets water from the Muvattupuzha river, while the purification plant at Aluva draws water from Periyar.
The new pump house, further burdening the Periyar river, will improve supplies to Thrikkakara, Paravoor, Aluva, Kalamassery, Maradu, Kochi Corporation areas and 13 adjoining panchayats.
It is proposed to come in about 3 acres at a distance of about 500 meters from the existing one in Aluva. A KWA officer associated with the project said that the total cost of the project is approximately ₹ 300 crore, while in 2019 only administrative approval was received for the work costing ₹ 50 crore, as a KWA official associated with the project said.
As part of the first phase of the project, the quarters of the KWA officials, located at the proposed project site, are being razed and rebuilt near the town hall in Aluva, and pipelines passing through the site of the new plant are to be built. Used to be. Been done again.
The official said that KWA expects to complete the first phase of the project by June 2022.
Work on the pump house and purification plant could begin after the completion of the first phase, and take another year and a half, another senior KWA official said. Administrative approval for the remaining project cost is still awaited, while the proposal for the same was submitted in July last year. The official said that the existing distribution network would be used to boost supply, and a cesspool in Kalamassery would be used for storage. The new pipeline will be laid from the new pump house to the Kalamassery drain.
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