The acute water shortage at Nilackal, the main base camp of Sabarimala during the annual pilgrimage season, is set to end with the Seethathodu–Nilackal drinking water project nearing commissioning.
The project, being implemented at a cost of ₹120 crore, aims to ensure round-the-clock supply of safe drinking water to the lakhs of pilgrims who arrive at Nilackal every season. It will also cater to the needs of residents in Seethathodu as well as sections of Perunad grama panchayats.
According to officials of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA), the major components of the project include a 13-million-litre-capacity water treatment plant, three booster pump houses of six-lakh-litre capacity each, and three overhead storage tanks at Nilackal, each with 20-lakh-litre capacity.
The project is being funded jointly through NABARD and the Jal Jeevan Mission. A trial run conducted during the last pilgrimage season, using a temporary tank of five lakh litres, proved successful. “The project will be fully operational ahead of the upcoming pilgrimage season,” a senior KWA official confirmed.
The project, works on which which began in 2016, envisages drawing water from the Kakkattar, near Seethathodu. Construction of an overhead tank with a 20-lakh-litre capacity, along with two booster pump houses at Thathakkamani and Plappally, has already been completed. The remaining two 20-lakh-litre storage tanks, located near the Goshala and the Palliyarakkavu temple, are in their final stages of completion.
