Give them water or leave office, HC tells government

KOCHI: A government that fails to provide drinking water is not entitled to rule, a single bench of the Kerala high court observed on Thursday.
Considering the petition by Manthra Home Residents Association in Chilavannoor, Justice S Siri Jagan said water scarcity in Ernakulam was not due to the lack of availability as water is available from Periyar.
The only thing government has to do to provide potable water is to lay more pipes to get the water from Periyar river to homes after proper treatment, the court noted. The court noted that citizens can live even without a Metro Rail but not without drinking water. It ordered the state and Kochi corporation to file reports within two weeks stating the steps taken to provide drinking water to residents of Manthra Home. The residents moved the court through advocate A Rajasimhan after their application for drinking water was rejected by Kerala Water Authority(KWA) stating that providing connections are not hydraulically feasible. KWA stated that water will not reach the apartment complex due to lack of pressure in pumping. Appearing for the residents, Rajasimhan challenged the denial of connections in court, arguing that water authority hasn’t conducted any technical study to categorically state that providing connections is not feasible.