The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Tiruchi News : Underground drainage scheme gets bogged down

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 07, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi

Underground drainage scheme gets bogged down

By S. Ganesan

TIRUCHI, DEC. 6 . The ongoing work on the Rs.91.89 crore underground drainage scheme in the city has bogged down due to delay in getting clearance from Central government agencies for laying pumping mains jeopardising the TWAD Board's plans of completing the project ahead of schedule.

While laying of underground sewer lines were underway as per schedule, problems cropped up in getting clearances from the Railways, National Highways and National Highways Authority of India for laying pumping mains on their land.

Though the project, sanctioned under the National River Conservation Programme, was slated for completion by September 2006, the TWAD Board has been pushing the contractors to complete it by September 2005. The Corporation was keen that the project was completed soon. However, sources revealed that the TWAD Board might not be able to live up to its promise unless the Railways, the NHAI and the NH acted post-haste to clear the bottlenecks.

Though the Railways has given the go-ahead for laying sewer lines across railway lines at four places, it is yet to give the green signal for the work to proceed at three other places. Of the three, the crossing of the tracks near the Golden Rock overbridge on the Chennai bypass road involves a major work as underground pumping mains have to cross as many as nine tracks. The mains would run for a distance of about 610 metres on the railway property and would carry the entire sewage collection from Srirangam and Golden Rock areas from the Golden Rock Pumping Station - I to the Corporation sewage treatment plant at Panchapur.

The work entails the construction of a box-type culvert, which has to be done by the railways. The Board has deposited Rs.90.15 lakhs for the purpose. However, the relevant papers were still pending before the railway authorities at Chennai, sources said.

"This is a major work and it can take nearly six months for completion and the delay can upset our schedule," says a senior TWAD official. The Railways is yet to clear laying of sewer lines across the tracks near the Srirangam Railway Station and at Velli Kizhamai Salai.

Problems have cropped up in obtaining clearances from the NHAI for laying pumping mains alongside the Chennai Bypass Road for a distance of about 975 metres between the G.Corner and the Toll Gate as the road is to be a four-lane soon. Similarly, clearances are awaited for laying pumping mains between Crawford and Panchapur on NH 45 B (Tiruchi-Virallimalai-Madurai) and Subramaniapuram and Tollgate on NH 210 (Tiruchi-Rameswaram).

Meanwhile, the TWAD Board has laid underground sewer lines for a distance of about 104 km in the city out of the total distance of 182.34 km. Pumping mains have been laid for about six km out of the total distance of 26.35 km. About 35 per cent of the work on construction of pumping stations and 27 per cent of the work on the sewage treatment plant at Panchapur have been completed.

The TWAD Board has drawn up proposals on including more unserved areas under the project by laying additional sewer lines for a distance of 42 km in the erstwhile Municipal limits of the city including Annamalai Nagar, Fathima Nagar, Srinivasa Nagar, M.M.Nagar, Milaguparai, Ponnagar, Selva Nagar, Thathachariar Garden and Sivaraman Layout.

Besides, about 30 residential colonies in the newly added areas would be covered under Phase II.

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