After severe delays which triggered a public outcry, work on the sewage pipeline at Anayara was back in full swing on Sunday.
The Kerala Water Authority (KWA) expects to complete the work, now progressing at the Maharaja’s Lane in the area, over the next few days.
The horizontal directional drilling machine, which had broken down several weeks ago forcing the contractor to halt the work, will go into action from Monday, Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine’s office said. The repaired hydraulic motor of the machine arrived in Thiruvananthapuram from Chennai on Saturday night. On Sunday, work was mainly carried out using the smaller drills.
The KWA has prepared a fresh schedule for carrying our the work in day-and-night shifts. A team of engineers have been specially formed to ensure that the work is completed on by July 6.
The work at Anayara is part of a project to improve the city’s sewerage network and involves laying 600 mm pipeline encased in 900 mm HDPE pipe from the pump house at Edathara to the Sewage Treatment Plant at Muttathara.
The pipes had been unloaded on the narrow road linking the Pettah-Anayara road with the National Highway in March. However, the HDD machine had broken down and spares — bearings and rotary group kit — had to be flown in from China, which took time.
Movement obstructed
In the meantime, the large pipes obstructed free movement on the road, affecting the daily lives of nearly 75 families and the functioning of a private hospital and small businesses in the neighbourhood. Visuals of residents clambering over the waist-high pipes dumped outside the gates of their houses had gone viral.
After a public outcry, the State Human Rights Commission had directed the KWA to remove the pipes. Following this, the Water Resources Minister had directed the utility to take steps to complete the work quickly.
“We are happy that the work has resumed. We hope that it gets completed as quickly as possible without anymore technical problems,” S. Thulaseedharan, secretary of Maharaja Gardens Residents’ Association, said.
