Water-starved Chennai was hoping to receive its 10 MLD water per day from Jolarpet from Wednesday onwards, but unexpected delays in completing the works has made officials unsure of when the supply of water might begin. While the workers were initially confident of finishing all works by Tuesday evening and starting supply on Wednesday morning, they have missed this schedule as of now.

An official from Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD) had told The Hindu that it would be known only on Wednesday morning when the first trip of the water train from Jolarpet to Chennai begins.

Reports state that a trial run to pump water into the pipeline was scheduled for Tuesday morning but got delayed. Workers were busy getting the water mains ready near the filling point while TANGEDCO workers were installing a transformer near the pump house in Mettusakkarakuppam where the underground storage tank with a capacity of 5.05 lakh litres is located.

A 3.2 km pipeline connecting Mettusakkarakuppam to the railway yard in Jolarpet was being readied by TWAD Board authorities. Explaining the reason for the delay in works, an official was quoted by the New Indian Express as saying, “We had to encounter some problems in running the pipe under a culvert. It took a little more time on Monday, so other work too got delayed.”

An official from TWAD Board had told The Hindu that officials and contract workers were working round the clock in three shifts to meet the deadline. As many as 50 wagons with capacity of 55,000 litres each have been brought from Rajasthan and kept ready at the water filling point in the station. The Chief Minister had sanctioned a fund allocation of Rs 65 crore for the entire project.

According to the plan, water will be transported four times a day at a volume of 2.5 million litres per trip, where it will take more than three hours to fill these wagons to their capacity of 2.5 million litres.