By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Scarcity of water in Upper Lumparing, Malki, Laitumkhrah and Nongthymmai in the recent past has become a cause concern for its residents as they are forced to purchase water at a very high rate.
The issue of water scarcity in the areas has become a headache even for the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department which has been trying its best to rectify the perennial problem.
Talking to media persons here on Tuesday, A Sunn, Additional Chief Engineer (PHE), said the department was using the latest technology and available knowledge to find out a permanent solution to water problem.
According to Sunn, a gravity feeder main comprising of Cast Iron (CI) pipes of different sizes from 400mm diameter to 250mm diameter were laid to connect the supply main of the scheme at 6th Mile, Upper Shillong linking of supply water to the zonal reservoirs from the Greater Shillong Water Scheme at Mawphlang.
These pipes were laid along difficult terrain of forest land emerging through Sericulture Farm, he said the pig lead joints of Cast Iron Feeder Main cannot withstand the high pressure of water developed due to difficult terrain resulting in high percentage of unaccounted water.
It may be mentioned that this feeder main was also dislocated near Malki due to incessant rain recently resulting in the cutting off the supply to zonal reservoir at Malki, Laitumkhrah and Nongthymmai areas.