Jolarpet water: Pipes rerouted after objection

A landowner has objected to pipes being laid across private patta land near Mettutakarakuppam on Tuesday, forcing the authorities to reroute the pipes.  While pipe-laying work from Jolarpet municipality’s 5.50 lakh-litre reservoir at Mettutakarakupam to the Railways overhead tank at Parsanpet is almost getting over, Ilayaraja, a private landowner, objected to laying pipes across his land.

Efforts taken by the Revenue Department officials and police officers, who rushed to the spot, to cajole the landowner turned futile. “Hence the pipes had to be rerouted, the trial will be delayed,” an official said.

Meanwhile, a 50-wagon tanker train from Jodhpur in Rajasthan arrived at Jolarpet yard by 6 am. The tankers, each with a capacity of 54,000 litres, are meant for water transportation and hence have been modified suitably, officials said. 

Senior Southern Railway officials involved in the work said that they had not got any communication from the government to commence operations on Wednesday.

“We have kept our wagons ready. We are ready to make as many trips as soon as they fill the wagons. Loading must be done by TWAD (Tamil Nadu Water and Drainage) Board,” remarked a senior SR officer requesting anonymity.