Delay in fixing leaky Cauvery pipeline irks Gudiyattam residents

VELLORE: Lack of action by officials of the Gudiyattam municipality in repairing a leak in the Cauvery drinking water scheme pipeline providing water to the town has irked residents. The issue raised a storm as precious water was getting lost, also posing challenges to commuters who had to wade through water at inundated places, sources said.

The leaking pipeline led to water inundation near the Parasuramanpatti railway station. Public were forced to wade through water to reach the station. As the public raised the issue, officials rushed to rectify the issue. An earth mover was arranged to attend to water inundation.

Gudiyattam municipal chairman S Soundarrajan said that he visited the spot along with the municipal commissioner, on being informed of leakage in the pipeline, after coming to know of it through media reports.

“Officials rushed into action. Water stagnation near the railway station was immediately attended to, around 11 am on Friday. The leak was plugged around 3 pm,” he said. Officials claimed that they had restored drinking water to the Vellore city through the Cauvery water supply scheme from Friday onwards, after it was stopped for nearly a fortnight for maintenance work.

The stoppage hit Sathuvachari residents hard as they had to purchase water by the tractor loads. Gudiyattam municipal chairman added that the Hogenakkal drinking water scheme was under maintenance at Vellore, resulting in distribution of water for Gudiyattam town.

“As locals asked us to provide at least salt water, we took recourse to providing water from Pasumathur- which was the original water supply scheme for the town before the arrival of Hogenakkal scheme” he said.