The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Coimbatore News : `Sewer scheme will take off this year'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 11, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

`Sewer scheme will take off this year'

Special Correspondent

COIMBATORE: The much-awaited underground drainage scheme will take off this year. The cost of the scheme has been revised from about Rs.200 crore to Rs.443 crore in order to include 716 newly regularised layouts.

The Central Government might approve the scheme by the end of this month. Tenders would be finalised by September 30. The entire project would be completed in two years.

This was announced at a meeting on the scheme held at the Coimbatore Corporation to brief councillors on the projects to be implemented under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission of the Central Government.

Making a presentation on the scheme, Corporation Executive Engineer T. Rangaswamy said that only 22 per cent of the 105 sq.km. city had underground sewers. The rest would be covered under the proposed scheme, he said.

The scheme was mooted in 1998 but disagreement among councillor over deposit and maintenance charges to be collected from the public had delayed its take off. It was included under the mission so that 50 per cent of the project cost could be met with grants from the Centre.

The 20 per cent grant from the State Government would now come in the form of an interest-free loan or a revolving fund, the Commissioner said. As in the case of solid waste management, questions from councillors pertained mainly to loans, the repayment commitment and fears of the burden being passed on to the people. The Commissioner explained that there was Government stress on underground sewers in all towns and cities.

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