“Already, supply to Tripunithura and nearby areas from the Kerala Water Authority’s Choondi pump house which sources water from the Muvattupuzha river is disrupted due to very low water level. This is for the first time, after the commissioning of the Choondi project, that the intake well in Muvattupuzha river has dried up,” said Tripunithura municipal chairman R.Venugopal.

According to him, a very weak monsoon will definitely affect the sustainability of the Piravom water project which is expected to take the burden off the Periyar, the main water source of the city.

Though the authorities consider the Muvattupuzha river as the major alternative drinking water source, the depleting water level in the river is a cause for concern. Indiscriminate sand mining and waste dumping are killing the river. To add to this is the climate change which has hastened the process of water level fall”, said a civic expert.

But residents admit that the Periyar can meet half the city’s water needs and there has to be some new source. The Rs 210-crore project funded by JNNURM was conceived way back in 2006 and was supposed to have been completed by March 2012.

The scheme was delayed due to opposition from the local people against digging up of roads to lay pipes. Though that hurdle has been crossed, people fear they will not see water flowing through the pipes.

Protest at Varapuzha With no water reaching Varapuzha for more than a month, the local people took to the streets on Wednesday, bringing traffic on the busy NH 17 to a standstill for a few hours. Local residents including women and children squatted on the road from morning demanding better water supply. Later, the police removed those who had blocked the panchayat office.