THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as the city battles for uninterrupted water supply, water theft is high at public taps which are mostly abused for washing vehicles. As per conservative estimates, there are around 1,500 public taps in the city for which the city corporation pays lakhs of rupees as fee to the Kerala Water Authority (KWA). The Corporation unlike in the 80s and 90s, does not have special squads to check such thefts.
Touts hoodwink the KWA’s vigilance and steal water at Fort, Medical College and Vallakadavu where even private buses are washed using water from public taps.
While the KWA slaps a fine on those taking water using a hose, many thattukadas and chappathi corners in the city collect waters in barrels from public taps for businesss without inviting any action.
“Generally we shut down the taps temporarily when such cases come to our notice. Citizens need to alert the KWA helpline and the respective sub division will charge a fine based on the gravity of the theft,” said a KWA official adding that there were reports that water from the public tap is being channelled into a well at Varkala.
“Trying to channel water into a well is nothing short of foolishness as the water will be lost into the earth,” the official added. As per norms, if there is no water pressure at home, small storage tanks can be used to collect water and pumped up into the overhead tank. However, the inlet should be located on the mouth of the tank to avoid, contaminated water seeping back into the public distribution system.
