Poor support from public affects pace of flushing of hand pumps

However, the digging or flushing of existing 1250 hand pumps in the city is facing some problems due to lack of public interest, according to corporation commissioner C Sivasubramaniam.

The Mark III hand pumps were installed in many areas in Vellore city to tide over the annual water crisis by the government agencies. Previously, when the Palar had no flow and the city received deficit rainfall from the monsoon, people were forced to rely on hand pumps.

But, after the implementation of the Hoganekkal combined water supply scheme, people started receiving water directly in their houses and the hand pumps were abandoned. Through the scheme the city gets 30 MLD (million litres per day). An equal quantum was being sourced through its own locally available sources to cater to the entire demand of the city. “This enables a resident to get 115 litres per head,” Sivasubramanian said.

The local body has begun flushing of hand pumps to tackle the situation during summer, “The local body as on date has flushed 62 handpumps while no deepening has been sought,” Sivasubramaniam added. “Flushing is easier as it just means pumping out dirt accumulated over time, whereas, deepening is costlier and a complicated process,” officials added.

“Availability of water and provision of domestic connections is another reason for the hand pumps being affected,” officials said and added, “Till date we have provided 70,000 domestic connections and more will be given once the ongoing construction work of 17 OHT (over-head tanks) by Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD) is completed. In 12 months, each OHT will have capacities ranging from 10 lakh to 20 lakh litres based on its location.”

Vellore Consumer Federation President K Sathiyamoorthy said, “The government should think of some way to use these pumps by either creating awareness for their continued use or shift them to rural locations where there is water scarcity.”

A hand pump in front of the Padavettam temple cannot be used as the heightened road level has put the outflowpipe barely six inches from the floor.