THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:As the mercury levels in the city are scaling up, the lack of water supply for two continuous days at the Zoo has crippled its smooth functioning. For more than 48 hours, the zoo has been partially facing a water supply crisis. Water supply in one among the five pipelines of Kerala Water Authority which caters to the needs of the Zoo has been completely hit.
The pipeline which feeds the zoo store, canteen and supplies drinking water to the enclosures of the monkeys have also been hit. “With the temperatures soaring, the shortage of water has aggravated the situation. The water requirement has increased due to the heat. Animals require more water and the water evaporation rate is also high. For two days, we can adjust with water from other locations in the zoo but this cannot be the norm,” says Zoo superintendent T V Anil Kumar. This pipeline is also used to provide drinking water for the visitors. On a daily basis, the zoo requires more than one lakh litres of drinking water. The 33.5-acre zoo houses 120 species and has more than 1,000 animals. The water for cleaning the enclosures is being met by using the water in the pond in the zoo campus.
“We need water to prepare meals. You can imagine what happens in the kitchen when the water supply is being hit in your homes. All the food for the animals are prepared at the zoo store. So when the water supply is hit there, then everything is thrown haywire. We are trying to tide over this with the alternative arrangements. We have been able to adjust for the past two days, but we cannot go on for long,” says Anil. He adds that although the KWA is providing water through tankers, it is not enough. “Unless the water supply in the pipeline is restored at the earliest, the functioning will be hit,” he says.
KWA’s take
KWA Chief Engineer G Sreekumar said a special team is studying the issue. “We have identified low pressure in one of the pipelines. We have constituted a team to look into it,” said superintending engineer Suresh Chandran.
