After much delay, the work to replace the defective pipeline under the Alappuzha drinking water project will begin on Thursday.
N. Jayaraj project manager, Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) said that around 1,200 metres of the pipeline at Thakazhi would be replaced.
The work will be carried out by digging the Ambalapuzha-Thiruvalla road. The plan is to replace the 1,000-mm high-density polyethylene pipe with 900-mm mild steel pipe.
The move to replace the defective pipeline comes after an inordinate delay. Although a high-level meeting convened by then Water Resources Minister K. Krishnankutty in November 2019 had decided to replace 1,524 metre pipeline in three months, the work never took off due to various reasons.
The Alappuzha drinking water project was executed by the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) with Central assistance under the UIDSSMT in 2017. However, since its launch, pipelines under the project have burst 68 times, majority of them at Thakazhi.
