CHENNAI: More than 1,500 buildings in the extended areas of Greater Chennai Corporation will have drinking water connection as the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (Metro Water) has taken measures to lay underground pipelines in streets that have not been covered so far. A Metro Water official said the newly formed streets without water connections have been identified in Madhavaram, Valasaravakkam, Alandur, Perungudi, and Sholinganallur zones. “In the first phase, 1,652 house service connections will be provided. A tender has been floated to lay pipelines. Water connections to households in other new streets will be provided in a phased manner,” he added.
In Madhavaram zone, Metro Water will lay down a distribution network with pipe sizes ranging from 100-200mm diameter for a length of 11.5km, 12.6km in Valasaravakkam zone, 7.41km in Perungudi zone, 830mm in Alandur zone and 360m in Sholinganallur zone. Ductile iron (DI) pipes will be laid for a longer lifespan.
Automatic reading and electromagnetic flow meters will be installed to monitor the amount of drinking water supplied to the new connections. “Providing water connections to the new neighbourhoods and streets is a continuous process due to the rapid growth of the city. Unserved streets are now depending on lorry water and groundwater. The present work will be completed in six months,” the official added.
On Friday (February 13), Metro Water supplied 1,231 million litres to the city residents, of which 142 million litres are from desalination plants.