'Water crisis reflects flawed supply system'

Coimbatore: AIADMK councillors and Coimbatore Corporation engineers locked horns at the corporation council meeting on Friday, as erratic water supply took centre stage as the major talking point in the meet.
Councillors blamed officials for irregular water supply and said the distribution system needs to be monitored by senior officials. But civic body officials defended stating shortage in man power and low-level of the Siruvani dam were reasons for the supply deficieny.
East zone chairman, K R Jayaram said, "The area used to receive water once in 4 or 5 days. But for the past five months, we receive water once in 12 or 14 days. Since the supply from Siruvani has come down from 90MLD to 30MLD, supply from Pillur has been diverted to Siruvani-fed areas. But even then distribution system has been erratic," he said.
Sathyaseelan, Ward 68 councillor, said "We are aware that the city faces a water crisis, but even then water needs to be distributed equally. Like, if one locality receives water in abundance, then others are deprived. This situation leaves residents fuming at us," he said. He added that there is no information available as to how much water will be distributed and how the supply system to wards work.
K A Adhinarayanan, works committee chairman, said water distribution should be proportionate across all wards. "The water supply needs to be proportionate. The city has faced similar water issues before, but this time it truly is a crisis. Leaving many to question the flawed distribution system applied by the corporation," he said.
G Savithri of Ward 97 said the civic body can overcome the issue if they form a special water committee to monitor the supply. "A separate committee needs to be formed for water supply and engineers should submit a report on the water supply and ward-wise distribution," she said.
Councillors urged the mayor P Rajmkumar to take steps as the local body elections were just a couple of months away. P Rajkumar said he would convene a meeting with corporation officials and come up with a plan to improve water supply. He added that he would arrange a visit for all councillors to Siruvani dam for a better idea of the water supply distribution system.
While councillors brought up the water issue, residents of Selvapuram staged a road-roko as they have not received water for more than 10 days. Officials intervened and sent water tanks to the area.