Kozhikode
The poor planning in shifting the water pipelines along the national highway stretches where the widening work is now in full swing has started troubling hundreds of local residents. Recurring pipe bursts during the widening work are reportedly interrupting the drinking water supply in many households in this summer season.
The delay in repairing such damaged pipelines has also been troubling many households. Many residents in Vadakara and Koyilandy areas allege that there is no proper planning in utility shifting or pipeline changing to ensure trouble-free road construction work.
Apart from water shortage, the pipe bursts are also creating huge troubles with roads remaining water-logged. Huge trenches are also being formed with the powerful water flow from main pipelines.
In some of the grama panchayats under Vadakara taluk, water supply had been disrupted for over a week. The damaged pipes were repaired only after the intervention of various local body heads.
Some of the local body representatives claim that the workers associated with the road widening project are hardly concerned with informing the authorities about the pipe bursts on time or placing the request in advance to change the pipelines. On many occasions, they were found leaving the spot by just closing the pipelines, they claim.
A local body member from Azhiyoor panchayat said there should be proper attention by Kerala Water Authority (KWA) officials to ensure the safety of drinking water pipelines as any damage could affect the potable water source of thousands of villagers in the panchayat. He said that the road workers should also be informed of the seriousness of the incident.
Meanwhile, a KWA engineer said that some of the recent incidents of pipe bursts in the Vadakara area were purely accidental and such incidents could not be described as the result of carelessness. He also claimed that arrangements were in place to ensure the safety of all major pipelines with proper field surveillance and emergency repairing support.
