The Hindu : Sewerage augmentation remains a pipedream

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 26, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

Sewerage augmentation remains a pipedream

By G. Mahadevan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM June 25. Even as the city's drainage network continues to be under severe stress due to overloading, a sewerage augmentation scheme designed to tackle overloading and `commissioned' by the Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, on July 16 last year is yet to become operational.

According to Government sources, the situation has come about because the National Project Construction Corporation (NPCC) which was given a two-year contract in 1998 for completing the project, has failed to fulfil all the works mentioned in the contract due to a financial dispute with the KWA.

The NPCC reportedly insisted that it would complete the work only after the KWA pays up the money in a timely fashion. Now, even as the KWA is holding back Rs. 1.5 crore due to the NPCC, the project can be made fully operational only if an additional 1,200 m of pipes are laid and if provision is made for laying pipes beneath the railway tracks at Valiyasala.

For its part, the Kerala Water Authority(KWA) is also reportedly paying more than Rs. 2 lakhs per month to the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) under the minimum payment guarantee scheme under which electric connection was taken for the new pumphouse at Kuriathy. This in spite of the fact that the Authority has not used the power for which it has made the payments.

The Executive Engineer Sewerage division, Mohan Jodar, told The Hindu that the new pumphouse at Kuriathy has been functioning for the past one month. The Authority owed the KSEB Rs. 6 lakhs and the `allocation rent' was only Rs. 1.5 lakhs a month, he added.

This scheme to lay a main intercepting sewer from Sasthamangalam to Kuriathy and to augment pumping activities there, was partially completed in 1986, when the Kerala Water Authority completed the task of laying 750 mm lines from Paippinmoodu pump house to Idappazhanji, 1,000 mm lines from Idappazhanji to Jagathy junction and 1,200 mm pipes from Jagathy Junction to Kannettumukku Junction.

However, the work of laying 1,200 mm lines from Kannettumukku to Kuriathy made tardy progress mainly due to financial constraints and technical limitations faced by the KWA in laying sewage pipelines 8 to 10 metres below the surface to effect gravity flow of sewage from Kannettumukku downwards.

As part of the project, work on a new pumping station with 700 litre/second capacity and a 2000 KVA sub-station was initiated. The project also involved the laying of 3,430 metres of ductile pumping main line from Kuriathy to the Sewage Farm at Muttathara. Work on providing a dedicated 11 KV line from the KSEB's Thirumala sub-station to Kuriathy was completed at a cost of Rs. 140 lakhs.

The work on the laying of about 70 metres of 1,200 mm pipeline under the Valiasala Railway Crossing was expected to be over by August 2002. If this had been done, the old and the new drainage network could have been linked at Killippalam and Jagathy, thereby eliminating overflow of sewage into the river Killi.

According to Mr. Mohan Jodar, the KWA now plans to complete the laying of pipes beneath the railway tracks on an urgent basis. The tenders for this will be opened next week. Now, there is not enough sewage flow into Kuriathy to justify the full time operation of even one of the three 346 hp pumps installed there. Once the new parallel mains also start bringing in sewage, all pumps can become operational. The KWA has already served a termination notice to the NPCC, he said.

It is also pointed out that the scheme cannot become fully operational without extensive testing of the newly-laid pipelines for any leaks or bursts.

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