Thiruvananthapuram: Eleven years after they started living in the fourth phase buildings of Rajaji Nagar, the residents are about to get water in a month or so. They supplied their details and filled forms for new water connections, at a meeting last week. KWA has prepared an estimate for laying pipes and is waiting for the sanction of city corporation. The residents did not get a connection because more than 60 of the 90 families in the fourth phase were Illegal occupants.
“Even when the construction of the fifth phase was inaugurated, the keys were not given. People had to force their way in,” says Prabha S., a resident. They would draw water from the public taps. But if the water connections got delayed, how does one explain the fact that they got the electrical connection, asks S. Jayakumar, a resident and CPM local committee member. He blames it on the lack of political will of the previous UDF councillor.
After the wearying long time, no one believes it will actually happen. “We have filled in our applications for water connections. Let’s see,” he says. Unlike the slum refurbishing projects at Karimadom or Kalladimugham, the residents won’t have to bear connection charges. Pipeline connection and meter charges for 90 households, in addition to a few pipes to be laid, will cost Rs 40,000. “There are not too many additional pipelines to be laid, so the project did not cost much,” said a KWA official. The project is likely to be funded through the BSUP scheme. Now, the estimate has been approved by the electrical engineer, and now needs sanctions from the corporation.
