Anakaputhur, Pammal to get quarry water

CHENNAI: Water from five abandoned quarries in Pammal and Anakaputhur is likely to be drawn from this month and supplied to residents of the areas.
A senior municipal administration and water supply (MAWS) department official said there are three quarries in Pammal and two in Anakaputhur which can collectively hold 600 million litres. Water will be drawn and distributed to nearly 1.5 lakh residents in both areas for nearly 240 days from the Senkazhuneermalai quarries.

Pammal has a population of 90,000, while 55,000 reside in Anakaputhur.
The MAWS department will draw 2.5 million litres of water a day from the five quarries and pump it into sumps in Anakaputhur and Pammal.
These areas partially get water from Palar and the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board. “Water from the quarries will be added to this and distributed,” the officer said.
The department is getting a motor from Mumbai which is expected to arrive in the next couple of days.
Once the motor is installed, officials will conduct pumping trials. After checking the pipelines for leakage, water will be drawn from the quarries.
“A speciality of these pumps is that they float on the water. Whenever the water level goes down, the pump will also go down and draw the water. This type of motor is only used in Sikkarayapuram quarries that supply water to the city,” the officer said. The testing will be done for a week and another week will be for checking the pipelines. Once this work is completed the water from the quarries will be drawn.
“We expect the supply of water to both residential areas from this month end,” the officer added.