Taps in Mogappair, Anna Nagar go dry
Many areas in Anna Nagar West Extension and Mogappair have been without water for a fortnight, say residents. Power outages and fluctuations have made it difficult for Metrowater to ensure an adequate supply, they say. The worst-affected have been three blocks in the Tamil Nadu Housing Board quarters and Nakeeran Street and Veeravanmunivar Street in East Mogappair and some areas in Anna Nagar west extension. Also affected were some tail-end areas of the distribution network.
Several sumps in these areas and other areas, including Korattur and TVS Colony, couldn't be supplied water due to low pressure in the pipelines. "Elders like us cannot wait in queues before street taps to collect water. We need to store water in sumps. Our sumps have remained dry for weeks," said S Bakiyam (62) of East Mogappair. While residents of apartment complexes, which have large sumps, can buy from private tankers, those in individual houses find it difficult as they don't have large sumps.
"New pipelines laid two years ago have not been put to use while the existing one is dry," said S Lakshman of Anna Nagar west. Power outages, sources in Metrowater said, were among the major reasons why they were unable to maintain an adequate supply, especially to tail-end areas. They were able to pump only 60-70% of the required quantity into the pipeline during power cuts, the sources said. Overuse of piped water was another reason for the shortage, they added.
"As most wells are dry, people use Metrowater for all purposes but our supply is stagnant. Those near distribution stations get enough water due to high pressure and overuse by this segment makes the pipeline dry before the tail-end areas can be supplied," said sources. Mogappair, part of eight divisions under Ambattur zone of Chennai Metrowater, has around 20,000 connections. Of the 50 MLD (million litres per day) supplied to Ambattur Zone, Mogappair East alone gets around 2.5MLD.