Chellanam reeling under acute drinking water crisis

Many areas in Chellanam panchayat have been grappling with a severe drinking water crisis in recent days.

Tony Thayyil, member, Ward 15, said the water supplied by the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) in the area is unfit for consumption due to salinity. “As many as 200 families in the ward have been affected, and we have no option but to rely on tanker lorries. We have staged several protests, but to no avail,” he said.

According to civic representatives, aging pipelines and lack of proper maintenance by the KWA has resulted in the crisis.

Panchayat president Jessy Augustine said the issue is rampant across the panchayat. “Almost the whole panchayat is reeling under crisis. We have been told that there are not enough workers to repair the pipes, which were laid nearly five decades ago. They are aged structures, and several leaks have been identified. They need to be repaired to prevent incursion of saline water,” said Ms. Augustine.

According to her, replacing the entire pipeline will address the issue. The panchayat has worked out an estimate it in Ward 15, she said.

Panchayat vice-president Peter Shin said around 12,000 families in the panchayat had been affected. “The only solution is to replace the entire pipeline,” he added.

V.T. Sebastian, a resident of Ward 19, said the problem was severe at the tail ends of the supply network. “What most people do is let the tap run for some time so that the saline-contaminated water is flushed out,” said Mr. Sebastian.

Meanwhile, sources in the KWA said saline contamination occurs when people use motor pumps to draw water illegally from the pipeline. When pumps are operated while there is no supply through the lines, pollutants and contaminated water enter the distribution network through leaks. “We are carrying out repair works on the pipelines. We have also asked the panchayat to draw up an estimate to replace the pipeline,” they added.