KOCHI: The water crisis in the city is turning out to be a
full-fledged war on the streets with local residents along with CPM
workers blocking two tanker trucks at Aluva water treatment plant,
alleging that the tankers had earlier transported hazardous chemical
waste.
Following a shortage of tankers, the district administration had sought the help of local contractors who in turn brought tankers, including a few bearing Maharashtra registration numbers, a few days ago.
Following a shortage of tankers, the district administration had sought the help of local contractors who in turn brought tankers, including a few bearing Maharashtra registration numbers, a few days ago.
"According to prevailing norms, water tankers should be painted blue
and white. But these two trucks are white. We have also seized permits
issued to them to transport hazardous chemical waste," said CPM Aluva
local secretary C M Saheer.
The charges were repeated by the Ernakulam District Drinking Water Transporters Welfare Association (EDDWTWA). "From last Tuesday, 11 trucks bearing Maharashtra registration numbers have been transporting water from the Aluva plant. All these trucks were transporting acid from HIL, Eloor. Trucks transporting acid cannot be used for carrying drinking water," alleged EDDWTWA president V A Sakkir Hussain.
According to district administration, the present crisis was a conspiracy following stringent action taken by authorities against those supplying unsafe drinking water. "We had taken strict action against two suppliers who had continuously failed to comply with norms. They were supplying drinking water directly from River Periyar at Eloor without purifying it. Moreover, they didn't have permits to draw water from Periyar. We had closed their units down earlier as well. But they reopened it illegally," said district collector P I Sheik Pareeth.
According to Pareeth, these two suppliers together own around 100 tanker trucks. "The Maharashtra registration tankers are clean enough to transport drinking water. Since there was a shortage, we had to press these vehicles into service urgently. So, they didn't have time to paint it with prescribed colours," he said.
Though the police reached the spot, they didn't take any action.
The Kerala Water Authority (KWA) officials said that these trucks had permits to transport drinking water. So, no action can be taken against owners, police said.
Agitators were also assured that food safety department officials would inspect these vehicles before they are used for transporting drinking water on Tuesday.
The charges were repeated by the Ernakulam District Drinking Water Transporters Welfare Association (EDDWTWA). "From last Tuesday, 11 trucks bearing Maharashtra registration numbers have been transporting water from the Aluva plant. All these trucks were transporting acid from HIL, Eloor. Trucks transporting acid cannot be used for carrying drinking water," alleged EDDWTWA president V A Sakkir Hussain.
According to district administration, the present crisis was a conspiracy following stringent action taken by authorities against those supplying unsafe drinking water. "We had taken strict action against two suppliers who had continuously failed to comply with norms. They were supplying drinking water directly from River Periyar at Eloor without purifying it. Moreover, they didn't have permits to draw water from Periyar. We had closed their units down earlier as well. But they reopened it illegally," said district collector P I Sheik Pareeth.
According to Pareeth, these two suppliers together own around 100 tanker trucks. "The Maharashtra registration tankers are clean enough to transport drinking water. Since there was a shortage, we had to press these vehicles into service urgently. So, they didn't have time to paint it with prescribed colours," he said.
Though the police reached the spot, they didn't take any action.
The Kerala Water Authority (KWA) officials said that these trucks had permits to transport drinking water. So, no action can be taken against owners, police said.
Agitators were also assured that food safety department officials would inspect these vehicles before they are used for transporting drinking water on Tuesday.
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