The Hindu : Front Page : Second drinking water project to be commissioned by February 15

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 09, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

Second drinking water project to be commissioned by February 15

S. Sundar

It will facilitate daily supply of water from Vaigai dam to Madurai residents

MADURAI: The second drinking water project for Madurai city to bring water from Vaigai dam, proposed to be commissioned by February 15, would be the first development work to be completed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission in Madurai Corporation.

The mission, being implemented with the aim of providing basic facilities in three Corporations, including Chennai and Coimbatore, has got generous funding from the Centre and the State Government.

Though one of the five new overhead tanks, under the Rs. 68-crore project, is yet to be completed, the authorities have planned to inaugurate it by February 15, to pre-empt the Lok Sabha election announcement.

Cleaning work on

“Cleaning of the new pipelines is under way. By Monday, the entire 65-km-long pipelines from the dam to Arasaradi pumping station would be cleaned,” Corporation Chief Engineer K. Sakthivel said. “Water can be routed by bypassing the incomplete overhead tank at Villapuram,” he said. Distribution pipeline for 16 km too had been laid.

The scheme is a long-felt need of the city to provide 110 litres of water a day for every resident. The local body that has a reserve of 1,500 mcft of water in the Vaigai dam has been drawing only 600 mcft due to capacity constraint in existing pipelines. A portion of the remaining 900 mcft is being drawn through river wetting.

With the launch of new scheme, the Corporation would be able to supply an additional 47 million litres a day (MLD), as against the present 68 MLD. Besides, it could do away with the existing alternate day supply of water. “Hereafter, we will be able to supply water daily,” Mr. Sakthivel said.

For Madurai city, the Centre was giving 50 per cent of the funds, while the State Government contributed 20 per cent for the development schemes under the mission.

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

Front Page