This story is from November 27, 2015

Suburbs to get drinking water supply for the first time

Thanks to the bountiful rainfall over the past month, suburbs, including Avadi, Ambattur, Ullagaram and Puzhuthivakkam, will now get drinking water supply for the first time since pipelines were laid, said Metrowater officials.
Suburbs to get drinking water supply for the first time
CHENNAI: Thanks to the bountiful rainfall over the past month, suburbs, including Avadi, Ambattur, Ullagaram and Puzhuthivakkam, will now get drinking water supply for the first time since pipelines were laid, said Metrowater officials. The city, which has been getting only about 270 million litres daily (MLD), will now get 830 MLD against the actual demand of 1,100 MLD, following the announcement made by chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday.

However, residents in these suburbs tell a different story. “There cannot be supply for at least a year as Metrowater has not given us water connections,” said Tamil Nadu Progressive Consumer Centre president and Avadi resident T Sadagopan.
Avadi residents said they paid a deposit sum to the municipality for water and sewer connections six years ago when the scheme was announced. Ex-councillor from Avadi, C Rajendran said, “I paid Rs 10,500 for water connection and another Rs10,500 for sewer connection in 2009. We still do not have connections to receive water supply or avail of sewerage service.”
According to residents, pipelines were laid on streets, but do not extend to the houses. Social activist S Mohanram said, “They have to lay pipelines leading into sumps in each house. There needs to be water meters to regulate the supply. Metrowater has not provided any of these.”
Ambattur resident Sundararaman said he paid a deposit of Rs 7,500 for sewer connection and Rs 5,000 for water connection to the Ambattur municipality 15 years ago. He said, “We are waiting to see how the government supplies water to our area like promised. We have waited very long.”
Ambattur and Avadi residents currently depend on groundwater and private tankers for their daily drinking needs.
Meanwhile, other parts are likely to benefit from the increased water supply as the city’s four reservoirs have attained full capacity, storing about 10 thousand million cubic feet (TMC). Last year, the storage in the reservoirs was only 3TMC. The reservoirs account for about 30-40% of the daily supply of 830 MLD, the rest sourced from Veeranam lake, two desalination plants and groundwater from farm wells in Tiruvallur district.
The daily supply was 830 MLD in 2012 before it was reduced to 550 MLD following below average rainfall over the next three years.
We have begun supplying 830 MLD, said a Metrowater official.
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