Kerala Water Authority can dig roads if pipes burst: Minister G Sudhakaran
As a result, the maintenance of the pipeline could begin only on Friday.
Thiruvananthapuram: The PWD minister, Mr G. Sudhakaran, issued an order exempting emergency works of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) for repairing pipelines that burst from the purview of the order banning digging roads and national highways during monsoon season.
The order was issued following a tug of war between the KWA and PWD over the issue of digging public roads for pipe maintenance. The present decision was taken following a discussion between Mr Sudhakaran and water resources minister Mathew T. Thomas.
A 400 mm primo pipeline carrying water to Kesavadasapuram from the Peroorkada tank burst at Muttada in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday evening. However, due to the ban, maintenance work relating to the burst could not be taken up.
This was after the PWD officials expressed their reluctance to hand over the permission for maintenance as the KWA owed them a huge amount of money for repair of roads that had been damaged following the burst in the past. As a result, the maintenance of the pipeline could begin only on Friday.
It was in this context that the PWD and Water Resources Minister met to discuss the issue. Following this, it was decided to conduct the work related to the digging of the roads only under the joint supervision of the engineers of the two departments.