Water shortage has affected residents of Mettupalayam, who get water only once every three days. Residents also expressed concern over the water colour.
Last week, a notice issued through the newspaper requested residents to be more cautious about water consumption, regarding both quantity and quality. "A notice from the commissioner did inform us that as works on the Bhavani Barrage project was due to begin, there would be water shortage," said D M Sampath, a resident of Shakthi Nagar in Mettupalayam.
"While we may be able to reduce consumption, the water quality is very bad. The water looks murky, and it has a peculiar smell and taste," said N Venkatraman, another resident of Mettupalayam. "We have begun buying can water for drinking and cooking," said R Mani Aatha, another resident.
The worst affected areas in Mettupalayam are L S Puram, Shanthi Nagar, Rajapuram, Shanthipuram, Vasantha Nagar and Sudhakar colony. "These are areas far from the river, so water gets clogged in the pipelines before it reaches them. The clogs are not removed. Unless the water pressure is strong, it does not get to far off places," said an engineer in the Mettupalayam municipal office.
Constant threats of protests by residents, prompted Mettupalayam's municipality chairman D Satheesh Kumar to petition the chief minister on Saturday to take note of the problem. "
The problem is that power is not generated daily. The stored water is released only when power is generated. Thus, on days when there is no power generation, water is not released," he said.
Another problem is that when municipality sewage gets stored for more than 24 hours, it stagnates and becomes polluted, he added.
Residents say water release has marginally improved after the petition to the chief minister was publicised. They also believe that the real problems began after a check dam was constructed at Samayapuram for Bhavani Kattalai hydroelectric power project II.
"Earlier, when they held back water in the Oomapalayam check dam for power generation, we used to get water from all the natural streams under the Bhavani River, but now even those have been blocked because of the Samayapuram check dam," said Venkatraman.
Last week, a notice issued through the newspaper requested residents to be more cautious about water consumption, regarding both quantity and quality. "A notice from the commissioner did inform us that as works on the Bhavani Barrage project was due to begin, there would be water shortage," said D M Sampath, a resident of Shakthi Nagar in Mettupalayam.
"While we may be able to reduce consumption, the water quality is very bad. The water looks murky, and it has a peculiar smell and taste," said N Venkatraman, another resident of Mettupalayam. "We have begun buying can water for drinking and cooking," said R Mani Aatha, another resident.
The worst affected areas in Mettupalayam are L S Puram, Shanthi Nagar, Rajapuram, Shanthipuram, Vasantha Nagar and Sudhakar colony. "These are areas far from the river, so water gets clogged in the pipelines before it reaches them. The clogs are not removed. Unless the water pressure is strong, it does not get to far off places," said an engineer in the Mettupalayam municipal office.
Constant threats of protests by residents, prompted Mettupalayam's municipality chairman D Satheesh Kumar to petition the chief minister on Saturday to take note of the problem. "
The problem is that power is not generated daily. The stored water is released only when power is generated. Thus, on days when there is no power generation, water is not released," he said.
Another problem is that when municipality sewage gets stored for more than 24 hours, it stagnates and becomes polluted, he added.
Residents say water release has marginally improved after the petition to the chief minister was publicised. They also believe that the real problems began after a check dam was constructed at Samayapuram for Bhavani Kattalai hydroelectric power project II.
"Earlier, when they held back water in the Oomapalayam check dam for power generation, we used to get water from all the natural streams under the Bhavani River, but now even those have been blocked because of the Samayapuram check dam," said Venkatraman.