Melur villages in Madurai get untreated borewell water amid pipeline leak
Ten days after water supply through the Cauvery Combined Drinking Water Supply Scheme (CWSS) was halted due to a pipeline leak, residents of several villages and hamlets in Melur taluk alleged that the water supplied over the past week has not been chlorinated. They claimed that local panchayat staff in Melur taluk, to meet the water demand, utilised borewell water, but the overhead tanks (OHTs) used in the distribution system were neither cleaned nor was chlorine powder added as part of the disinfectant procedure.
According to sources, there are a total of 1.2 lakh households across several villages, including Thiruvadavur, Kottampatti, Therkkutheru, and Idyarpatti, which are completely dependent on the CWSS, to those households, untreated water has allegedly been supplied. A resident of Melur, told TNIE that water supply to our houses was interrupted around 10 days ago, and the residents of the rural areas in Melur claimed that there was a breach in the pipeline of the water scheme in Manur. Public health experts have raised concerns over the potential outbreak of waterborne diseases due to the supply of untreated borewell water. With rural areas often lacking immediate access to medical facilities, any contamination in the drinking water can lead to serious health risks, especially for children and the elderly.
Experts emphasise that in the absence of standard chlorination and tank disinfection protocols, even short-term exposure to unsafe water could trigger cases of diarrhoea, typhoid, or cholera. They have urged the local authorities to implement emergency water quality testing and ensure proper disinfection before further distribution. Another villager, said, “Cauvery water supplied through the pipeline is chlorinated at the pumping station in Elangiyendal during transition. As borewell water is not treated, adding chlorine powder inside the OHTs is the only solution.” He alleged that the panchayat officials failed to carry out the vital procedure, but fortunately, there has not been any disease outbreak.
An official from the district administration told TNIE, “Water sourced from the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board is pumped to OHTs in remote areas for further distribution. As an urgent measure to combat the water shortage that lasted for two to three days, borewell water was pumped to the OHTs. But, these tanks are cleaned twice every month, and chlorination is done every 15 days.” The official refuted the allegations, claiming no untoward incident has occurred in the past few days.
