Residents still reel under water crisis

Thiruvananthapuram: It seems the residents of Poovar panchayat have no respite from the acute drinking water shortage they have faced for years. A Nabard-funded ambitious project proposed as a permanent solution for the mess has been left half way by the Kerala water authority (KWA). Hundreds of PVC and iron ductile pipes bought for the project are lying unused in the panchayat, and the crores of rupees spent on the project went down the drain.
The KWA officers said the contractor who was awarded the tender for the project left the project halfway, citing a rise in the price of pipes, and also informed KWA that he cannot resume the work at the rate fixed earlier. A study conducted by Nabard in 2018 found that most of the wells in the panchayat are contaminated due to the excess presence of fluoride, and only less than 40% of households here have drinking water connections. The panchayat authorities claim that people get water once every nine days, and they manage their needs by storing as much as they can in huge cans.
Nabard had sanctioned Rs 14.75 crore to lay pipes at a distance of 35 kilometres to bring water from the plants at Thirupuram and Kumali (neighbouring panchayats). The project got administrative sanction on September 29, 2019, and it was supposed to be finished by December 22, 2021.
Over a year after the deadline to finish the project has passed, the KWA is now mulling alternative ways to go ahead with the project. "We have decided to terminate the contractor, and an estimate of the remaining work will be prepared. Once the estimate is prepared, a new tender will be invited to finish the work at the earliest possible date," said an officer of KWA.
PVC pipes are required for 25 kilometres of the 35-kilometer stretch, while ductile iron pipes are required for 10 kilometers.The contractor laid PVC pipes in a fewk ms, and PVC pipes are available to finish the remaining five kms. In the 10 km stretch, where ductile iron pipes have to be laid, no work was done. "We have taken measures to charge ‘risk and cost’ to the contractor. Project will not be delayed, as we are on a war-footing to finish it at the earliest," said the officer.