n April 2017, water levels in the Peppara dam had dipped so low that Thiruvananthapuram was bracing for water cuts. By mid-April, the reservoir storage had depleted to such an extent that the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) had to cut pumping from Aruvikkara by 25%. What saved the city was a hastily-put-together plan to rig pumps in the Neyyar and draw water to the Aruvikkara reservoir.
Rapid urbanisation and growing population have been placing increasing stress on the city’s water supply system. Although the district is theoretically rich in water resources, the supply network is riddled with problems, with the high-line areas shifting to water-scarce mode with the onset of summer.
Many hopes on Neyyar
The ‘summer scare’ of 2017 prompted the KWA to draw up plans for the Neyyar water supply project, which, once commissioned, would ensure an additional 100 million litres a day (mld) to the city region alone.
Today, the KWA has a number of major initiatives lined up for streamlining water supply in the city. Topping this list is the ₹60-crore, 120-mld Neyyar water supply project which promises 100 mld to Thiruvananthapuram city and 20 mld to local panchayats. An under-construction 75 mld treatment plant at Aruvikkara and an Asian Development Bank (ADB)-assisted scheme are two other initiatives meant to ensure 24x7 supply in the long run.
From the beginning
But first, a little bit of history. Lore goes that the construction of the Kochar channel was begun during the reign of Marthanda Varma for drawing water from the Killiyar at Maruthamkuzhi to the Padmatheertham pond at Fort. The work was completed by his successors.
What led to the construction of the Willingdon Water Works at Vellayambalam and the small dam 14 km away at Aruvikkara was a quest for uninterrupted supply of potable water all year round. In the latter decades of the 19th century, proposals for a wider public water supply network with a dam at Aruvikkara had started doing the rounds. But it was only in 1933, when Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma was ruling, that the project was commissioned. It is to C. Balakrishna Rao, the newly appointed Executive Engineer of the Water Works Division, that Thiruvananthapuram owes for making the project a reality. In October 1927, he submitted an estimate of ₹46.6 lakh and a detailed plan which was approved.
Just 429 houses
Lord Willingdon, the Governor General then, formally inaugurated the Water Works on December 11, 1933. The project was designed on the assumption that by 1961, the population of Thiruvananthapuram would touch 1.35 lakh. Initially, the Water Works catered to just 429 residences and 64 government institutions, journalist and historian Malayinkeezh Gopalakrishnan says. By comparison, today the city region alone consumes 270-280 mld. “In those days, most homes had wells. Today it might seem unbelievable, but the cost of purifying 1,000 gallons at the Water Works was just eight chakram then,” he says.
Since there was no telephone link between Thiruvananthapuram and Aruvikkara, a Daily Report Man would travel all the way to Thiruvananthapuram along the pipeline road with news from Aruvikkara. The ‘prasadam’ from the Aruvikkara Devi Temple also was brought to the king thus daily.
Forgotten wells
The Water Works ushered in a new era. The people soon began to depend a lot on public taps, and the number of domestic connections began to go up. The downside was that wells and ponds gradually fell into disuse and, over decades, many of them vanished altogether.
The Peppara dam, the mainstay of city water supply, was commissioned in 1983 to augment supply to the city and the suburbs. Today, the KWA has around 2.5 lakh consumers in the capital city alone.
Getting ready under the Centrally sponsored Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), the new 75-mld water treatment plant in Aruvikkara will complement the existing 72 mld, 86 mld and the 74 mld water treatment facilities there.
The 120-mld project at Neyyar was taken up in the First Five Year Plan. By 1959, the construction of the dam and the right-bank canal system had been commissioned partially. Today, the long-term water hopes of the city hinge on the Neyyar and the drinking water supply project. On the flipside, the 75-mld project and the Neyyar scheme have been delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The city also hopes to benefit from the ADB-assisted Kerala Urban Water Supply Improvement Project that promises uninterrupted water supply to Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi.