INDIA: Govt to fix issues in Hogenakkal water supply projet

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INDIA: Govt to fix issues in Hogenakkal water supply projet

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Govt to fix issues in Rs 1,928cr Hogenakkal water supply project

Times of India - July 18, 2021

By Shanmughasundaram J

CHENNAI: The state department of municipal administration and water supply has initiated corrective measures to address the shortcomings in the ?1,928-crore Hogenakkal Water Supply and Fluorosis Mitigation project to ensure uninterrupted smooth supply of protected water to Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts.

The fluoride content of the groundwater in these areas ranged from 1.5 to 12.4 milligram/litre against the permissible limit of 1.5mg/l. As a result of consuming water with high fluoride-content, a large section of the population was affected by dental, skeletal and non-skeletal fluorosis. Hence, the TN government had come up with the project in 2010 to provide potable drinking water to three municipalities, 17 town panchayats, and 7,639 rural habitations in the two districts by tapping the surface water from the Cauvery.

The short and erratic supply of water, however, forced many local bodies to mix the high fluoride content groundwater with the Hogenakkal water to meet the demand. The CAG report submitted in the TN assembly recently highlighted that inadequate supply of potable water “defeated the purpose of the scheme.”

Minister for municipal administration and water supply K N Nehru conducted inspections last week and asked authorities to take appropriate measures to implement the scheme effectively. “We enhanced the water supply from 128 million litre per day (MLD) to 140-145MLD to address the inadequate supply,” additional principal secretary of municipal administration and water supply Shiv Das Meena told TOI.

“We have formed 70 squads to conduct field inspections to identify the shortcomings in the water distribution under the project. Each squad would comprise engineers from Tamil Nadu water supply and drainage board (TWAD) and officials from the local bodies,” he said. District collectors and authorities have been asked to communicate to the public about the scheduled days for supply of potable water and create awareness to use only the protected water for drinking and cooking.

A senior official in TWAD said the squads have been directed to conduct field inspections and submit a detailed report on the problems in the distribution system. “They commenced the inspections three days ago,” said the official.


SOURCE
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/arti ... aign=cppst
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