Leaking pipes escalate water woes

Coimbatore: Weeks after a major leakage of main potable water feeder pipeline was fixed on Masakalipalayam Road, the pipeline has developed cracks at another spot. Though water has been getting wasted in large quantities for the past two days that too when the city has been facing acute potable water shortage, officials are yet to take any step to address the problem.
Less than a month ago, the feeder pipeline near Hopes Signal was found leaking, with drinking water flowing down the lane for more than 1km. The leakage was attended to only after a week.
“It is so distressing to see drinking water getting wasted at a time when we are facing severe water crisis. We are getting water only once in 10 days and are forced to spend a huge sum to buy water every week. We can’t even raise a complaint. Whenever we call on corporation officials, they ask us to intimate someone else saying they are not incharge of the road. We don’t know whom to approach. If the council were in place, we could have taken up the issue with the councillor,” said S Thangam, a shopkeeper.
He said the water leakage was a common sight on the stretch for the past three months. “Officials hardly fix them promptly and we are forced to make several representations before they address the problem.”
Pointing out that the stretch was filled with potholes, another shopkeeper, Ramesh, said water being wasted due to leakage was getting accumulated in them, causing accidents as motorists fail to determine their depth. “Water makes the road slippery and as a result, two-wheeler riders often fall off their vehicles.”
When contacted, the Tamil Nadu Water and Drainage Board (TWAD), which is incharge of the pipeline, an official said, “The maintenance work could be carried out only on Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (Tangedco)’s shutdown days, which fall on second Tuesday of every month. Otherwise, it would have serious impact on water supply as water is supplied to several panchayats, including Madukkarai.”
The official said the pipeline was about 27 years old and a proposal to replace the same was sent to the state government. “We will, however, fix the leakage at the earliest.”