Pilloor III scheme may get delayed.

Coimbatore may have to wait for long for additional drinking water as the implementation of the Pilloor III scheme is likely to be delayed.

The Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board is implementing the project as part of the over-all water supply augmentation project for the city at ₹780 crore. The Pilloor III project is for digging a water in-take well at the Pilloor Reservoir.

The Board has an in-take well at the Reservoir for its scheme - Pilloor I, and the Corporation has another for its scheme - Pilloor II. The two draw 125 million litres a day (mld) each. The Pilloor III scheme is for supply of another 125 mld to the city.

TWAD Board sources say that the organisation has written to the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) Limited for permission to dig the in-take well because the Reservoir is under its control. Since TANGEDCO has a few projects lined up - construction of a new reservoir after Pilloor in downstream Bhavani, removal of silt from the Pilloor reservoir - it is holding up the permission, the sources say.

Alternatively, the Board has proposed construction of a weir ahead of Pilloor.

Only if the Board completes the in-take well, will it be able to take the water and supply it to the city as part of the 24x7 drinking water supply scheme.

The Board has proposed to supply the Pilloor water to six master balance reservoirs, from where through the revamped 24x7 water distribution network, the Corporation will supply water to residents.

Once the Pilloor III water reaches the city, the Corporation will be getting around 400 mld - over 20 mld from Pilloor I scheme, 125 mld from Pilloor II scheme, 80 mld from Siruvani, 20 mld from the Kavundampalayam-Vadavalli scheme and over 10 mld from Aliyar and another 125 mld from the Pilloor III scheme.

This will help the Board and Corporation ensure equitable distribution of water to all the city’s residents - those in core city as well as added areas.

The sources say that at present there is inequitable distribution of water in that as against the 135 litre per capita a day (lpcd) norm, core city residents get up 180 lpcd and the added area residents only 70 or 80 lpcd.

Meanwhile, TANGEDCO sources say that the Board and their organisation are discussing various alternative methods for water supply so that there is no problem in the long-term. “We are unable to desilt now as there are two water schemes. We are jointly exploring alternative methods.”

Further, a sub-station to come up for water supply is waiting for joint inspection at Pilloor.

THE HINDU