Kerala

Choondy scheme: obstacles removed
Staff Reporter
Row over road-cutting will be settled soon
Disagreement remains over compensation
NHAI, KWA engineers to visit all sites

KOCHI: The obstacles in the work for the Augmentation of Water Supply Scheme of Kerala Water Authority (KWA) to Thripunithura municipality and adjoining panchayats (Choondy scheme) are being removed slowly, with a solution to the disputes on road-cutting being worked out between various agencies.

According to K. Babu, MLA, a solution for cutting the road for laying pipes along National Highway-49 and the roads constructed under the Kerala State Transport Project was worked out at a high-level meeting convened in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.

Agreement was reached on cutting the 1.95 km stretch of road from Choondy Junction to Puthenkurissu in NH-49, the 750 m stretch from Karingachira to Puthiya Road Junction and the 6.49 km stretch from Karimukal to Puthiya Road Junction in the Chithrapuzha-Ponjassery Road, Mr. Babu said.

This was one of the major hurdles the Kerala Water Authority had to overcome while completing the Choondy scheme. There were reports that the work could be stalled in case permission from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Public Works Department (PWD) was not received on time. There was also disagreement regarding the amount of compensation to be paid to the NHAI by the KWA.

The National Highway Executive Engineer and Kerala Water Authority Executive Engineer should conduct a joint inspection at all sites. The compensatory amount to be paid by the KWA to the NHAI and the PWD for cutting the roads would be fixed following this visit. It was also suggested that the KWA should take care to complete the work of laying the pipes on a daily basis, by filling the ditches the same day itself.

Public Works Department Minister T.U. Kuruvila, Water Resources Minister N.K. Premachandran, M.J. Jacob, MLA, K. Babu, MLA, Suresh Koilerian, Chief Engineer, National Highways, PWD Chief Engineer Baburaj, KWA technical member Suresh Babu and other officials took part in the meeting.

A stretch of 14 km of the pipeline would be laid along the road for this scheme, from Puthenkurissu to Karingachira.

This scheme, with an expected capacity of 46 MLD (million litres per day) water, was aimed at providing water for Thripunithura municipality and the adjoining panchayats including Chottanikkara, Thiruvankulam and Maradu. Some parts of Udayamperoor panchayat would also benefit from this scheme. The scheme would be completed in 2008.

(The Hindu - Friday, October 7, 2006)