The joint project of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) and a private firm, which aims to optimise water distribution in Kochi, is awaiting financial sanction from the State government.
The agreement between the KWA and private entity SUEZ was inked in June. “The company will begin work once the advance payment is given. This is pending with the government. In the first year, the focus will be on design and surveying of pipelines,” said a KWA official. Starting the second year, the construction activities will begin.
The project is jointly financed by the Asian Development Bank and the State government. Here, the KWA is following a design-build-operate-transfer model with the private firm. The company is tasked with water distribution network upgradation, including the operation and maintenance for 10 years. The contract was awarded to SUEZ for the Kochi city water supply system upgrade, operations, and maintenance.
The work will begin in the nine distribution zones in the city after the initial year of surveying. “There are nine zones in Kochi, and the focus initially will be on completing the construction work in three zones. Once this is done, work in the next three zones will be done,” the official said.
