COIMBATORE: The trial run of the Pillur Scheme 3 drinking water supply has been once again delayed and will likely be conducted by the end of August. The Chairman and Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Urban Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation (TUFIDCO), Dr Neeraj Mittal along with the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) Commissioner M Prathap and other officials inspected the project works near Mettupalayam in Coimbatore and instructed the officials to complete the works soon on war-footing basis.
To cater to the water needs of the added areas of the CCMC and by analysing the city’s population in 2040, the Pillur Scheme 3 drinking water supply project was kick-started at a cost of Rs 779.86 crore back in 2018. The project with the Bhavani River water as its source will be able to supply 178.30 MLD of water to the added areas of the CCMC through the TWAD (Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage) Board once completed. The project is being carried out in 3 packages which include the construction treatment plant, pumping station, tunnel, storage tanks, and installation of water pipelines.
Sources said the construction of the treatment plant that is being constructed at Rs 104.90 crore with a capacity of treating 178.30 MLD of water daily has neared the finishing stage. Of the Rs 104.9 crore, Rs 77 crore is spent on the construction and the remaining amount is used for Operation & Maintenance (O&M). Similarly, the construction of the water pumping station has been finished for Rs 134 crore.
Currently, the work to construct two Mass Storage Tanks (MST) with a capacity of 73 MLD is being carried out in full swing at the cost of `104 crore. Apart from them, the-900 metre tunnel works have been completed at the cost of `62 crore. Neeraj Mittal, after inspecting the project works instructed the TWAD board officials to finish off the works on a war-time basis and carry out the trial run before the end of August. Earlier, the project was planned to be completed by March this year and it later got delayed to May, then to July and once again has been delayed to August end. There have been frequent delays in the completion of the project.
CCMC Commissioner M Prathap said, “The arrival pipelines and other materials from Pune got a bit delayed. As the time taken by the supplier of the materials is a bit long, the completion of the project works was delayed eventually. However, we are back in full progress. Currently, only 5 km of pipeline installation work is pending now which will be completed by August 20. Once completed, we shall carry out the trial run by the end of August. This time, there won’t be any more delays and for sure we might do the trial run by August last week.”