Other States - Pondicherry   

Pondicherry to get underground drainage facility soon

By Our Staff Reporter

PONDICHERRY, DEC. 4. Open drainages in the Union Territory, a legacy of the French rule, might be a thing of the past soon. The Pondicherry Government is negotiating with an institution to keep the drainage system underground.

"We are in discussion with a major institution which has the technical feasibility and financial strength to keep the drainage system underground. The details should be worked out in another four-five months," Chetan B Sanghi, Secretary, Industry and Tourism, said in his keynote address at the concluding session of a three-day conference on `Rediscovering Pondicherry: Pondicherry Tomorrow' organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), here today.

Earlier, the Government was looking for financial assistance for the work and it didn't work out. Of the six zones, except in two, all the places had open drainage, making it a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Detailing the Government's initiative to make the Union Territory a `favoured destination' for tourists, he said four major private players in the hotel industry — Taj Luxury Hotels, INDI One, Oberoi and VGP — shown interest in setting up hotels and resorts here.

One of the major problems the tourists were facing in Pondicherry, especially during the season and weekends, was non-availability of rooms in hotels.

The Tourism department's assessment was that the present availability of rooms — around 2,500 — had to be doubled in another two-three years, he said.

To put in place the infrastructure for the Special Economic Zone that was coming up, special emphasis would be on developing the port.

Already the Government was on the process of scrutinising the bids called for the port development. It was looking for an investment of Rs. 500 crores in the port development, he said.

B. Vijayan, Development Commissioner of Madras Economic Processing Zone, urged the Government to give thrust for the development of the port. As the Chennai port was getting congested everyday, the Pondicherry port could do good business.

Mr. Vijayan, who was Pondicherry Industry Secretary, said that earlier there was a plan to start `speed trains between Egmore and Pondicherry', but it did not materialise. He urged the Government to renew the proposal.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Other States

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Updates: Breaking News |

Stories in this Section

Centre for postgraduate studies to get autonomous status
Final voter list for civic polls ready
Pondicherry to get underground drainage facility soon
Pondy Assembly session begins on Dec.8

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu