Blue Brigade to fix leaks in water lines in city

The Coimbatore Corporation's Blue Brigade hit the roads on Tuesday to fix leaks in water lines.

The civic body said five workers, one tap inspector and one fitter would be on the move around the city. A Junior Engineer would operate the brigade.

On spotting leaks in water lines, the public could call the Corporation on helpline number 94892-06030. The tap inspector would carry this mobile phone.

Wireless communication sets had been provided in the vehicle. Information on water leaks provided to the offices of the Corporation by the public would be relayed to the brigade through these.

The mini bus, containing the workers and a whole range of equipment, would rush to the spot to plug the leak or replace damaged lines.

The Corporation said this would be a quick response system, in contrast to the wait for the workers to arrive on cycles to dig the road and then for the plumbers to bring equipment and replacements after assessing the requirements at the spot.

The vehicle would carry leak detection equipment with a sensor to locate the exact problem spot, road cutters and other tools and also spares.

And, there would be motors to pump out stagnant water. The vehicles would also have a small testing laboratory to check the quality of water supplied through public taps or residential/ commercial connections.

The State Government had allotted Rs.1.70 crore to 17 civic bodies (corporations and municipalities) to purchase the vehicle and equipment. Each unit cost Rs.10 lakh.

The brigade would also collect drinking water consumption charges.

The vehicle had been provided with a laptop to feed immediately the collection details into its database of various taxes.

Source-HINDU