Criminal negligence, this is exactly what it is. Fifteen years and one of the pipelines carrying Siruvani waters through Coimbatore city has been leaking – and no one in authority thought it fit to plug the leaks.

A major issue of concern for Coimbatoreans is the dwindling capacity of Siruvani water reservoir. But for some strange reason, no one seems to have bothered to check in on the amount of water wasted through leakage over the past decade and a half.

For sure, this leak is a stark reminder of the alarming apathy of the authorities. And this coming at a time when the Agro Climate Research Centre predicted a deficient rainfall during the Southwest monsoon, expected to begin within one week, only makes matters worse.

The water pipeline, runs across the Muthannankulam Lake, also known as the Kumarasamy Lake near Chinnavedampatti in the city, carries water to the people in the region during the dry seasons. “People from the surrounding areas, including Sokkampudhur and Panaimarathur, of course know about the leaking pipes, but have done precious little as they use this as a source for their water, especially when water distribution is delayed.

“At least in four places, the pipeline has leaks,” said R Dinesh, who has been living in the area for over 2 years.

Manoj Kumar, another resident added that the residents never complained about the leaks, as they are a blessing.

“Water supply is very irregular in our areas. So the leaks in the pipe turn out to be an obvious choice. Residents do not want to stop their source of water,” he said.

Since the leak is near the shore of the lake, residents clear a water tank and allow it to get filled. And then this water is fetched using small troughs to fill their vessels.

The problem just does not end with the leaks. Dirty water from the lake gets into the pipes when supply is stopped, contaminating the interiors of the pipeline that is carrying the water ahead. More over, mosquito larvae present in the water in the tank, gets mixed up with piped water and poses a health risk to people down the line, said G Velusamy, another resident.

Officials are very well aware of the leaks, but have never taken action, residents claim.

When asked, City Engineer G. Rajendran said that the officials would look into the issue immediately.

“There are chances that residents themselves may have damaged the pipe to get water. We would carry out a thorough probe into the whole affair,” he told the Covaipost.

Water level in Siruvani dam

According to Executive Engineer K. Sukumar, the dam level was 863.45 m as of 31st May and around 60 million litres per day (mld) water every day.

“We have enough storage and can sustain for three weeks. Once the monsoon kicks in, the storage would increase,” he added.

He also stated that deficit rain would not affect the storage level as the dam would receive rain from the Kerala region adding that the dam had received 7 mm of rain on May 30th.