Gallons of drinking water went to waste after contract workers damaged the main pipeline carrying water to Ambur town, near Tirupattur, on Saturday.
Officials of the Ambur Municipality said a small group of workers were laying a new water distribution pipeline on Swamiyarmadam Main Road in Sowrashtra Nagar. They accidentally hit the 800-mm diameter pipeline, which brings water to Ambur town under the Hogenakkal Combined Water Supply Scheme, and damaged one of its joints.
The pipeline burst, resulting in thousands of litres of drinking water draining into the storm-water drain. The incident, which happened around noon, also affected traffic on the route. “The entire stretch was inundated due to the pipeline burst. Ambur is an arid region where water scarcity is a common civic problem,” said Mohammed Ifhan, a resident.
Immediately, an engineering team from the municipality rushed to the spot and began repair work. The valve of the over head tank, which supplies water to the distribution lines in the ward, was closed. Later, a team led by Municipal Commissioner P. Santhanam inspected the repairs. Officials said the leak would be arrested later in the day. “Despite the incident, we managed to supply water to the areas where supply was scheduled. The disruption in water supply was minimal,” Mr. Santhanam told The Hindu.
Municipal officials said the new distribution water pipeline were being laid in ward 28 of the civic body for the past few days. The contract workers were not aware of the main water pipeline as they were not properly briefed about it.
At present, the municipality, which has a total of 36 wards, has over 13,000 domestic water connections. Besides, 765 public fountains provide water to consumers in tail-end areas and accessible neighbourhoods. The civic body gets drinking water of only 10.32 MLD every day from the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board. On an average, 90 litres per capita per day (LPCD) is supplied to consumers in the town daily.
