Coimbatore district collector T.N. Hariharan today conducted a meeting to discuss the means for uniform supply of the drinking water in Coimbatore and to turn Coimbatore into an open defecation-free district.
When speaking in the meeting District Collector, briefed on the emerging water crisis in the district and the advised the officials to attend to the grievances raised by the people on priority. He further stated that, “As the district of Coimbatore is facing acute water shortage problem. People should use water very economically. All the officials of panchayat unions should act prudently to manage this crisis. As per the advice of the Minister for municipal administration, rural development and special schemes implementation weekly meeting will be conducted for the review of drinking water supply and the officials strict to the water distribution schedules, so that complaints in relation to drinking water supply are not raised by the people.”
“A control room with the hotline number 1077, 24/7 will be setup at the collector’s office which will receive complaints in relation to the drinking water problems. The circle development officers can also be contacted for registering the complaints regarding any drinking water supply issues. All officials have been directed to attend to grievances on priority. Water from Aliyar and Bhavani is predominantly distributed for drinking water purposes in the district of Coimbatore. As drought prevails, people should be thoughtful of the situation and hence use water efficiently'.
“The town panchayat secretary should intimate the district administration on steps taken to handle the water crisis in their jurisdiction. All over head tank should be maintained well. So far, rainwater harvesting structures have been constructed in 541 wells in the villages and towns. The same should be done in all the other bore wells, too This will help in saving water even during low rainfall seasons.”
“The garbage/wastes dumped and accumulated in all water bodies should be removed. Continued efforts will be underway to maintain the city's status as 'open defecation-free'. Public toilet complexes have been constructed at 80 percent of villages in Coimbatore. Works on construction of toilets in the remaining places is underway. I congratulate the villages that took special efforts to create awareness to make this district an open defecation-free district'.
Project officer of District Rural development agency Ruben Shankar Raj, Executive engineer Chandrasekaran, Assistant director (Panchayats) Karuapayya, circle development officers, panchayat secretaries, drinking water suppliers participated in this meeting.