Ambalapuzha: Set up in 2014 with the promise of delivering clean drinking water to the local community, the Kerala Water Authority’s (KWA) Reverse Osmosis (RO) plant near the Ambalapuzha Government College now lies entirely abandoned and overrun with weeds. The facility has not been operational even once since 2016.

The plant was built at an expense of ₹10 lakh from the local development funds of the local MLA, G. Sudhakaran. Maintenance was subsequently entrusted to the Ambalapuzha South Panchayat. However, after carrying out minor repairs just once, the civic body washed its hands of the responsibility.

The initiative was designed to guarantee free, safe drinking water to local residents; today, those very residents are forced to buy bottled water out of their own pockets. Whenever pumping is interrupted at the Karumadi water treatment facility, thousands of consumers across eight panchayats, including Ambalappuzha South, and the Alappuzha municipality are left high and dry. Reviving these RO plants, which were built using public funds, would immediately relieve the water scarcity and ensure free drinking water for all.

Meanwhile, in a glaring contrast, clean drinking water routinely goes down the drain due to persistent leaks in Water Authority pipelines, even along the National Highway.

Local residents demand that elected representatives show the will not only to breathe new life into these abandoned RO plants but also to set up new ones to address the growing crisis.