Water supply yet to be restored in Thiruvananthapuram city

Large swathes of the capital city remained without water supply for the fourth consecutive day. (Representational Image)
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Large swathes of the capital city remained without water supply for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday (September 8, 2024), with the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) yet to restore supply after a pipeline realignment work. 

The water scarcity has triggered public protests, with BJP counsellors staging a midnight protest in front of the government secretariat.

Also Read: Kerala Water Authority officers protest against contract appointments

On Saturday (September 7), the KWA said it would restore piped water supply by Sunday morning. However, the KWA could not meet the deadline. In its latest communique, the KWA said the water supply would revert to normal by Sunday afternoon. 

The KWA attributed the delay to the time taken to fabricate the larger pipe sections on-site. The public utility also said it was prepared to supply water by tankers wherever necessary.

According to the KWA, the public can apply for the supply to the KWA Assistant Engineer through the ward councillor concerned.

Water supply has been hit in parts of the city over the last four days due to the realignment of pipelines necessitated by doubling the work on the Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil railway line. 

The alignments of the KWA transmission mains to Iranimuttam and Nemom had to be realigned because of the track doubling.

Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine will visit the work site on Sunday morning.

Last Monday, the KWA issued an alert that supply to 33 Thiruvananthapuram corporation wards would be fully hit and 13 partially hit from September 5 morning to 8 a.m. on September 6. 

Although supply was restarted to some areas on Saturday evening, the pumping had to be stopped on account of leaks.