Kalpetta to roll out Kerala’s first free water supply scheme

Kalpetta: The Kalpetta Municipal Council has approved a comprehensive project to provide completely free drinking water connections to all households in the municipality. The initiative, rolled out under the AMRUT 2.0 (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) scheme, is the first of its kind in Kerala.

Municipal Chairperson T J Isaac announced that Kalpetta will become the first local body in the state to implement a 100% free drinking water project for all its divisions. The project will benefit an additional 6,000 households across all municipal divisions.

As part of the scheme, 65 kilometres of old pipeline will be replaced, ensuring complete coverage for households currently lacking drinking water supply. A 50,000-litre capacity storage tank will also be constructed, and a 7.5 km supply line will be laid to serve areas like Moovattikkunnu, which has long suffered supply interruptions due to its elevation.

The project will also address chronic water shortages in areas sharing border with the Muttil panchayat, including Rattakkolly Hill and the interiors of Ponnada Nedunilam. An array of infrastructure upgrades including modernisation of the existing water treatment plant with a 1-million-litre daily capacity, improvements to the Goodalayi booster pumping station, Upgrades to the Kalpetta rest house, and water tanks at Emili and Goodalayikunnu , too will be conducted.

The municipality also plans to upgrade the Karappuzha raw water pumping station and install an 11 kV indoor substation along with a 270 HP vertical turbine motor pump set. These enhancements are expected to significantly boost water supply efficiency across the region.

The Rs.19.66 crore project has received both administrative and technical sanction from the Local Self-Government Department and is part of the State Water Action Plan (SWAP 3). The municipal administrative council is in a mission mode to implement the project within a year and set a model for sustainable, equitable water distribution in the state.

The council meeting where the decision was made was presided over by Chairperson Isaac. Vice Chairperson Sarojini Odambath, standing committee chairpersons Keyamthodi Mujeeb, A P Mustafa, Ayisha Palliyal, A Rajarani, C K Sivaraman, Water Authority Executive Engineer Anuroop and councillors D Rajan, M B Babu, K Ajitha, Jaina Joy, A K Shibu, A Rejula and K Nijitha spoke on the occasion