A month on, Vennala residents continue to face water shortage

More than a month after the annual maintenance at the Aluva water treatment plant (WTP), water supply has yet to be fully restored to some residents of Vennala. According to residents, the disruption has continued since May 13.

Earlier, the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) had issued a notice to French private firm SUEZ, which is responsible for the operation and maintenance of Kochi’s drinking water supply system, over delays in restoring supply following two recent disruptions in the city.

While supply has largely been restored in other divisions, a few pockets in Vennala continue to face water scarcity. Residents alleged that over 30 houses in the locality have been affected for more than a month. Job Mathew, a former Air Force officer residing at Souharda Nagar in Vennala under the Chakkaraparambu division, said the locality was facing such a disruption for the first time in years.

“Earlier, we used to get water every day. Now, we receive it only on alternate days, and the pressure has also dropped. An inspection revealed a wooden log lodged in one of the pipelines. But even after it was removed, the supply has not been restored,” said Mr. Mathew.

The blockage caused by the wooden log was detected in a pipeline supplying water to the Vennala region.

A resident of Haritha Road in Vennala under the Chakkaraparambu division expressed similar concerns. Pointing to a sharp decline in water supply, she said her family now receives only around 500 litres of water a day, which is insufficient.

“Our water consumption used to be around 40 units [40,000 litres] over a two-month period. It has now dropped to 13 units [13,000 litres] during the same period. We are managing by relying on well water, for which we had to install a new filter,” she said.

Thaha T.K., another resident of the locality, said the sharp reduction in water supply had forced his family to depend on packaged drinking water.“We have no other option but to buy packaged drinking water,” said Mr. Thaha.

Meanwhile, KWA sources said the issue had largely been resolved. “There may still be a few isolated cases, and we are addressing them as and when they are brought to our notice. We are also preparing an estimate to replace the smaller-diameter pipeline on Puthiya Road with a wider one, which will increase the volume of water supplied to the area,” the source said.