DRINKING WATER AND WATER SUPPLY

For drinking water the family members of the ‘Oli Mana’ depended on the nearby Vazhavelil pond. Our family used to take a special interest in the up keep and maintenance of this pond. The pond was cleaned every year and particular care was taken not to pollute the water. The pond bund was strengthened so that dirty water would not flow into that pond. Rajamma Vazhavelil was entrusted with the duty of bringing drinking water to the ‘Mana’. There was no water supply connection on our islands.

During monsoon, we used to erect four stakes in the open area of the courtyard and a washed and cleaned brand new dhoti would be tied at a certain height. A ‘Kuttalam’, a large copper vessel, its mouth covered with a cloth was kept underneath to harness the rain water. The water collected was crystal clear and most refreshing to drink. I have never had such fine natural water. We used to get plenty of water for our domestic use during the rainy season.

The salinity of water in the ponds in our compound increases during the summer. Whilst renovating our house we tried the rain water harvesting method which enables us to store the rain water. All the water was diverted to the two ponds which are close to our house. In the process the pond water is now devoid of   its entire salintity. We utilize this pond water for irrigation. All our fruit trees, lawn and garden depend on this source.  My neighbour Joseph too says that he is getting potable water from his well, which is close to our pond.

The mineral and medicinal value of the River Periyar was first discovered by the Portuguese Grande Ferrare da Alva and the place thereafter called as Alva which in English became Alwaye. The drinking water supply by the government was commissioned only after I became a graduate from Sacred Heart College at Thevara in 1973.

The drinking water ponds were neglected after the commissioning of the water supply scheme in our islands. I recall an event when the municipality commenced water supply in the suburbs of Thevara. The PWD water supply department and the municipality forcefully reclaimed all the ponds and wells in the municipal town limits. They did this on the ground that these open ponds would serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Those ponds were artificially created for harnessing rain water; but the reclamation was actually a ruse to force people to take water connections from the new water supply project. Now, the prohibitive labour charges made it unfeasible to maintain the ponds in our Islands. The construction of more and more residential houses near the ponds with bottomless sewage tanks further aggravated the situation.

At present the Islanders especially those who are residing at the northern area of Kumbalam are not getting adequate supply of potable water which the government is obliged to supply. The water supplied is contaminated with coli-form, industrial effluents, toxic wastes, pesticides, nitrates and salt to a prohibited degree. The excessive addition of chlorine makes it even worse. The sea level is rising day by day due to the high temperature and melting of ice in Polar Regions. Brine is now reaching up to Aluva where the pumping station is situated. The above facts and circumstances demand the development, erection and commissioning of a new major water supply pumping station at Edamalayar to protect the health and life of the inhabitants of Greater Cochin Area. I would also recommend a water tank and pumping station at Kumbalam to cater the needs of the railway station, big hotels and apartment complexes that are coming up in this fast developing Suburban Island.

Gone are the days when crystal clear water was available for drinking purposes.  Instead now we are supplied with mineral water manufactured by various companies. What is even more amazing is that they are dearer than cow’s milk.

Is it not the duty of the government and the local authorities to supply a reasonable quantity of potable water, electricity, cooking gas and sanitation free of cost to the common man? Are they justified in charging exorbitant land tax and property tax on buildings with less than 2000 Sq. Feet? The welfare of the poor citizens and unorganized poor agriculturists, the backbone of the society, are significant. They are at a breaking point; they could not bear the brunt of various levies imposed by the government and the local authorities. Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Division Office of the Water Authority situated at Eroor to remit my water bill. Though the water authority has made alternate arrangements to pay the bill through their local “Akshaya” agencies and through internet banking; this has not received much publicity through the media. I noted a long queue of people, mostly labourers and employed men. The monthly bills for domestic consumption comes up to just 100 to 200 rupees; but customers had to wait in the queues  for hours; some of them may have even  suffered loss of a day’s salary and / or wages amounting to 500 to 1000 rupees over and above their conveyance expenses. Another problem the consumer encounters is that the availability of water meters. They are of such poor quality and have to be changed quite often, spending not less than 2000 rupees towards cost and charges. I understood from the Executive Engineer, that there are almost   36747 domestic water connections and 945 commercial and industrial connections under their Division. Their monthly collection is almost 24 lakhs from the customers. They have about forty-five employees and they defrayed an equal amount towards salary, perquisites and other emoluments. Can’t the government avoid water charges and unnecessary harassment of common man? A few decades back, the government was facing an acute unemployment problem. This may have triggered the creation of new and additional posts and staff to fit into them. At present “the Globalization” has brought in lot of opportunities to our people. In this modern age of computers the staff strength has to be reduced to save prohibitive salary and other expenses. The vicissiitudes should reflect in thinking process as well. The service of employees in billing and collection of water charges could be utilized for other useful purposes or be transferred to other departments. The government should not expect profit from all the projects that they embark on. The government and the local authoriries should supply adequate potable water, electricity, cooking gas and sanitation free of cost to the common man and poor agriculturists. However, it is open to the government to fix higher tariffs for commercial and industrial and other big consumers.

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Marketing methods are changing rapidly with modern times. The typical markets characterized by the stench of garbage, reeking canals and dirty surroundings have given way to accommodate the more refined market spaces of the modern era, the Malls. They are manned by educated and disciplined sales personnel. A number of such malls have been sprouting here and there in the city. Quality goods that were previously available only in foreign markets are now made available in the domestic market. This has considerably reduced the craze for foreign goods. Healthy competition is good in every industry. 

Excerpts from

MEMOIRS

An autobiography

by

Joseph J. Thayamkeril

Lawyer, Kochi, Kerala, India.

josephjthayamkeril.blogspot.com

josephjthayamkeril@gmail.com