KOCHI: Despite the tall claims of the Kerala Water Authority and the City Corporation, there has not been any improvement in the drinking water supply in the city. In fact, 27 divisions within the city fall under 'high-stress water scarcity' areas with a supply-demand gap of 6 MLD. Residents only in 29 divisions currently get enough water while people in 18 divisions get water irregularly.
Most of the high-stress areas are in west Kochi, which are highly vulnerable to water-borne diseases, according to the water audit report prepared by SCMS College Water Institute. The Institute surveyed 30,000 households and institutions in the city to identify the consumption pattern and the actual requirement. The report was submitted to the City Corporation based on which a comprehensive Water Policy has been formulated.
“During the survey, only 24 per cent of people said that they get enough water round-the-clock, while 56 per cent people complained of low water pressure, especially in the tail-end of distribution network,” said Dr. Sunny George, director of SCMS Water Institute. More than 75 per cent of city residents are dependent on KWA supply as more than 40 per cent of the groundwater is contaminated and unusable.
The KWA’s Aluva pumphouse caters to the city areas with a supply of 170 MLD, while several high-rises and commercial complexes are solely dependent on the water supplied by the 512 registered tankers.
“Neither the KWA nor the civic body has any data on the actual requirement for the 74 divisions in Kochi. There are no data on the water requirement of floating population or migrant labourers,” Dr. George said. The Institute has submitted a series of recommendations to address the water scarcity in which major thrust has been given to rainwater harvesting and identifying decentralised alternative water sources.
