The long-pending demand for a modern water treatment plant that can address the acute shortage of drinking water experienced by the parched upper reaches of Pathanamthitta municipality is finally becoming a reality.
According to municipal chairman T. Sakkeer Hussain, the civic body has been granted ₹15 crore under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0. The fund will be used for establishing a state-of-the-art water treatment plant that will have a capacity to process 20 lakh litres of water per day.
Of the total project outlay, the Central government will contribute 50%, while the remaining amount will be shared by the State government and Pathanamthitta municipality. Though the initially allotted outlay was ₹12.38 crore, the amount was raised following negotiations through the State mission.
“The upcoming plant will have a capacity to treat 10 million litres in the first phase but will also comprise ancillary facilities to build on the capacity. The volume of distribution will be doubled on completion of the next phase,’‘ said Mr. Hussain. The civic body is soon set to launch a survey to identify the upper areas that go parched during summer.
Mr. Hussain said the existing plant at Pampurippara has the capacity to treat six-and-a-half million litres of water, though it lacks modern treatment facilities and carries out the four key processes of aeration, sedimentation, filtration and chlorination in the same unit.
“The new plant, to be established at the same location, will have separate units for conducting each of these processes. As it becomes operational, the existing plant will cease to function in a phased manner,” he added.
From the new plant, water will be pumped to overhead tanks at the three highest areas for distribution across the municipality. For the purpose, the supply pipes installed by the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) decades ago will be replaced with a new pipeline, and water will be distributed through household connections.
Meanwhile, plans are also afoot to link the Maniyar dam water supply project with the AMRUT project to permanently address the drinking water shortage experienced in the municipality. A core committee too has been formed to implement the project in a timely manner.
