Since the onset of southwest monsoon last month, the Ghat areas of Coimbatore district have received abundant rainfall. According to revenue department officials, the district had received 94 per cent of the average rainfall received during the same period last year.
In addition, there was heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of dams such as Aliyar, Pillur and Siruvani, and tanks in the Noyyal river were also filling up rapidly.
Recently, the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board which operates and maintains a 32 km long pipeline from Siruvani to Coimbatore, detected damage in the pipeline.
A TWAD board official told Hindu That a massive 1,000 mm diameter pipeline was damaged due to heavy rains in Siruvani hills. The official said the damage took place between 7 km in a dense reserve forest area, where elephants frequented.
The work was temporarily halted when a herd of elephants crossed the area, the official said, adding that the work is expected to be completed in three days.
The pre-structured concrete water pipelines in Siruvani scheme were installed more than 40 years back.
Corporation commissioner M. Pratap exuded confidence of uninterrupted water supply to the city due to heavy rains in the Siruvani catchment area.
He also said that the frequency of water supply in corporation areas has increased from 14 days to seven days even before the rains. “Once the leak is fixed, we will be able to reap the benefits and even increase the frequency of water supply to less than a week.”