Water tankers call off strike

KOCHI: The strike announced by the Ernakulam District Drinking Water Welfare Association  was called off on Thursday following the assurance from District Collector PI Sheik Pareeth that water can be supplied round the clock with some restrictions. The water supply will be restricted from 8 am to 10 am and 4 pm to 6 pm.The decision came in the wake of a discussion between the water tankers associations, health, police and Motor Vehicles Department officials.Sheik Pareeth also warned that “necessary action will be taken who violate the laws. The tankers supplying drinking water will be under the close scrutiny of the squad comprising RTO, police, health, and revenue officials. The tankers also have to furnish details about the vehicles like the source and destination where they go.”The tankers labelled ‘drinking water’ should not be used for any other purpose. ”Strict action will be taken against the owners of sources if the water supplied by them is inferior,” added Pareeth.The collector said that as mentioned earlier, the tankers could collect water from 26 recognised water sources along with Kerala Water Authority’s six sources. “From Aluva, Thammanam and Paravoor, the tankers could collect water 24 hrs and owing to the limited water supply in the areas of Choondi, Perumanoor and Muppathadom, the collection has been limited till evening.  For this, the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) will charge Rs 30 for 1000 litres. A pass could be procured from the KWA to collect water from the aforementioned sources by paying the money in advance,” he said.