Water level drops at Peppara reservoir

Thiruvananthapuram: With the mercury levels rising, the water level at Peppara, capital city’s sole source of drinking water, has started depleting. The current level of 104.55m is one metre less than the water level this time last year.
However, the Kerala Water Authority officials said that the water would be enough to meet the requirements till June. They also said that the dip in water level at Peppara was not the reason for the water crisis experienced in certain parts of the city. Sources said that rise in population, use of treated water for non-drinking purposes and non-revenue water loss through leakage are reasons.

Though KWA began steps to launch a new water supply scheme with Neyyar as the source, it is expected to take a minimum of two years to complete. This means that the city’s dependency on Peppara will continue for a few more years.

The KWA faced its worst crisis in 2017, when the water level hit the dead storage. Following this KWA began steps to raise the full reservoir level of 110.5 metres, but it is yet to be completed. Had the KWA completed the works last year, it would have helped in storing the additional rainwater during the south-west monsoon.

Temperature is 2-3 degrees Celsius above normal in the city for the past few weeks.

As per the forecast of India Meteorological Department, the city would have partly cloudy sky until Wednesday and maximum and minimum temperature are most likely to be around 35 degrees Celsius and 25 degrees Celsius respectively.

In a recent meeting, water resources minister K Krishnankutty had directed KWA officials to explore possibilities of alternative water sources such as quarries in areas affected by drought during previous years.

In 2017, the KWA had to bring water from Neyyar to Aruvikkara to supply water to the city. Water was pumped from Neyyar using floating pumps and brought to Aruvikkara through canals.