Drinking water from pipeline floods road

Coimbatore: The Government Arts College Road in the city was inundated due to a rupture in the main feeder pipeline on Wednesday morning.
The 500mm pipeline carries drinking water to the two master reservoirs at Town Hall and Puliyakulam. “It burst around 3.30am and there was ankle-deep water on the road. Local residents alerted the city corporation,” said a government hospital worker.
Corporation officials reached the spot around 7am, Sathishkumar, a shopkeeper, said. “Workers of the city corporation and Suez India Private Limited repaired it. It did not cause much inconvenience as it happened during the morning hours and water did not accumulate in the spot.”
As the city is facing a water shortage, corporation officials should take precautionary measures to ensure that drinking water does not get wasted, Sathishkumar said. “The officials concerned should check the condition of the pipes frequently as they are decades-old.”
The damage was rectified within 12 hours, a corporation official told TOI. “As pipelines are developing leaks frequently, the corporation has decided to replace them with ductile iron (DI) pipes for about three kilometres on the Gandhipuram-Trichy Road. We have sought permission from the highways department to dig up the road for laying pipes,” he said.