TIRUCHY: The city corporation has started identifying areas that still have underground drainage pipelines that are over 30 years old. The move follows the frequent bursting of such pipelines this year, severely damaging the roads.
Senior officials said measures will be taken to replace old pipelines immediately. Officials are expecting to finish the survey this month. Sources said that the detailed report regarding the areas that still have old UGD pipelines will be presented in this month's council meeting for approval.
This year, the UGD pipeline passing through Gandhi Road in Srirangam exploded about three times due to the pressure build-up inside old lines. Similar incidents occurred in Race Course Road, and some other areas in Khajamalai. "Very old UGD pipelines exist in Srirangam, Ponmalai, Khajamalai and a few other areas.
When the pressure builds up inside such lines which are over 30 years old, it would burst, and roads would cave in. We have started conducting surveys in each zone to identify such old pipelines. Such lines may be there only in some roads.
We are planning to replace all such lines before the monsoon. The project is one of the top-priority projects," a senior corporation official said. On the development, K Padmanabhan, a resident of Srirangam, said, "The lines passing through Gandhi Road exploded thrice but nobody got injured as these occurred at night.
We are glad that the corporation gave priority to this and decided to identify areas that still have old UGD pipelines." Senior officials expressed hope of completing the work before the monsoon as UGD works are going on in several areas.