The Assembly Committee on Petitions has asked the district administration and relevant departments to ensure the quality of drinking water supplied through tanker lorries in the district.

The direction was given at the sitting of the committee held in Thiruvananthapuram. Though the district administration had launched the ‘Operation Pure Water’ initiative in 2019 following complaints that contaminated water was supplied through tanker lorries, it had lost steam after the authorities could not ensure a sustained drive against those found violating the norms.

The Assembly Committee led by K.B. Ganesh Kumar has made it clear that the district administration and the Kerala Water Authority should undertake the responsibility of ensuring that quality standards were not diluted. The Motor Vehicles Department must inspect the vehicles to check whether the tanker lorry operators were flouting the norms.

There should be no relaxation in the directive by the committee against supply of contaminated water. Such sources must be closed down and action had to be taken against tanker lorry owners collecting water from such points. Mr. Ganesh Kumar suggested that the KWA could increase the number of hydrants supplying drinking water through the tanker lorries. The tanker lorry operators must issue the receipt for the payment made by the consumers without fail, he said.

The KWA has nearly 40 hydrants under its various supply offices in the district. There are around 15 hydrants under the Aluva zone. Of this, 10 hydrants are available at the treatment plant in Aluva. The officials of the authority said the hydrants at the Aluva plant remained busy in view of the steady rush of tanker lorries while the demand at the Chowara and Perumbavoor supply points had dipped, as tanker operators drew water from private sources.

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Originally Appeared Here