Residents of Karumandapam face short supply of drinking water

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Short supply of drinking water has drawn strong criticism among residents of Karumandapam in the city.

Pirattiyur, Kooturavu Nagar, Ramji Nagar, Kothamangalam, Cauvery Nagar, Jaya Nagar, Viswas Nagar, Sakthi Nagar, Alpha Nagar, R.M.S. Colony, and IOB Nagar are among the residential areas situated along both the sides of Tiruchi-Dindigul Highway. Most of them were part of the Ward 55 and Ward 56 of the Tiruchi Corporation. There are about 10,000 households in those areas. Of them, nearly 30% of the households were built during the last 15 years.

The Corporation supplies Cauvery water from the head works at Kambarasampettai and Jeeyapuram. It distributes water to the households from the overhead tank at Jaya Nagar and Cauvery Nagar. Though the residents get regular water supply from the civic body, they complain that the quantum of water supply was highly insufficient to cater to their needs.

According to sources, while the overhead tank with the capacity of four lakh litres at Jaya Nagar was built in 2011, the tank with four lakh litres capacity at Cauvery Nagar came into being in 2016. They were designed to cater to the needs of the then population in Karumandapam area. However, it has gone up to a great extent. Moreover, several new residential colonies have sprung up in recent years. But, the supply of drinking water has not increased correspondingly, thereby causing short supply to the residents. They complain that supply was maintained for about 45 minutes. There were instances of residents staging protests, complaining about irregular water supply. About 110 residents, mostly women, went to the main office of the Tiruchi Corporation and staged a demonstration highlighting the issue.

“We notice frequent bursts on the drinking water mains in our area. Moreover, the distribution lines have been damaged at various points,” says Mohamed Ali, a resident of Thiru Nagar in Karurmandapam.

S. Kumaresan, a resident of RMS Colony, said that water flow was extremely slow due to low pressure. The situation had gone from bad to worse in recent months.

While acknowledging the issue, V. Ramadoss, Councillor representing 55 in the Tiruchi Corporation, said he had raised the irregular and short supply of drinking water issue of the residents of Karumandapam in the Corporation council meeting on a number of occasions. However, the complaints of irregular water supply continued to crop up in different areas. A new overhead tank with a capacity of five lakh litres had been built at Nakshakthira Nagar. The supply was being tested. The problem would be solved soon.

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