Remembering the 1.5 Crore CUSAT Golden Pond which was made to address Water shortage problems and reduce the huge expenditure on water Supply by KWA . There was a news that, construction of pond stopped in midway and none of the issues were addressed. Well there is a good news. CUSAT has restarted its work and readying the pond for Rain water Harvesting in monsoon.
According to TOI, Following a technical assessment by the state groundwater department (GWD) officials, the university has already restarted the work. The construction of the pond, with a planned depth of 10.5m, had to be stopped midway after the contractor found rocks and boulders at a depth of around 5-7m.
“GWD experts had advised against blasting the rocks as it could affect the groundwater. So, we had decided to stop digging further,” said university engineer Sathi P.
The semi dug pond had collected enough water during the rains in 2014 that it took more than a drought year to empty it, indicating that the university could tide over its water shortage if the pond was dug to its planned potential.
The university had planned the project to solve acute shortage and reduce the huge expenditure incurred on water supplied by the Kerala Water Authority (KWA).
The work is being currently executed by the same contractor who began it. He was paid only Rs 45 lakh when the work had stopped. Officials said that he would be paid the next instalment after the work is over.
Read the Story : CUSAT’s golden pond stuck between ‘rock’ and hard rains
“We hope the pond would help to address part of the water problem in hostels and quarters. The pond will be full during the rainy months. We have had to pump water out frequently when the construction work was going on,” an official said.
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Courtesy of News : Sudha Nambudiri | TOI
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Photos : Ullas G Kalappura