The sewage pipeline work at Anayara has run into trouble with the horizontal directional drilling machine, which was repaired recently, developing fresh technical problems. Attempts to repair it did not succeed on Monday.
With more delays staring at the project, the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) on Monday decided to use another machine to complete part of the work, Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine’s office said.
The KWA will use a new machine to install the 900 mm HDPE casing pipe underground using another machine. The mild steel (MS) 600-mm sewage pipeline, which passes inside the casing pipe, will be removed from Anayara, to avoid causing further inconvenience to the public.
It will be replaced with a 600 mm HDPE pipe in three months’ time, according to the Minister’s office.
The HDD machine had overheated during operations on Sunday night. Given the urgency involved in the work, a technical expert was flown in from Chennai early Monday morning. The machine underwent a series of trials after a detailed inspection, but it was found that continued use would damage it further, according to Mr. Augustine’s office.
The sewerage project had grabbed headlines after the HDD machine developed technical glitches several weeks ago, forcing the KWA contractor to halt the work until spare parts were flown in from China. Repairs were carried out on the damaged hydraulic motor in Chennai, and brought to Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday night.
The Maharaja Lane linking the Pettah-Anayara road to the national highway has been in the news in recent weeks after the drilling machine broke down and scores of houses were literally cut off by waist-high sections of pipes dumped outside their gates. Following public protests, the State Human Rights Commission had ordered the KWA to address the issue urgently.
Recently, the KWA had created a fresh work schedule and appointed a team of engineers to complete the work on a war-footing.
