COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) has deployed additional manpower to expedite UGD (Underground Drainage) works in Kurichi and Kuniyamuthur that are being carried out at Rs 591 crore. Around 82% of work is complete and the project is expected to be completed by October.
The Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) board, which is implementing the UGD project, has dran flak from citizens over the slow pace of work. A senior official from TWAD board told TNIE, “Work is on at full swing in all the 14 wards. Installing pipelines on narrow roads is the only challenge we face as of now. The Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) for this project which has been set up at the Vellalore dump yard is also almost over. The STP with the capacity of 30.5 MLD of water will treat the water received from the HSCs in the Kurichi-Kuniyamuthur project.”
The UGD project works in wards 87 to 100 in the city are carried out at an estimated cost of Rs 591 crore under Asian Development Bank (ADB) fund. The work which began in 2018 was to be completed by 2021. But due to the Covid-19 pandemic and other issues it got delayed.”
Speaking to TNIE, CCMC Commissioner M Prathap said, “Of the 400 km of pipelines in the project, we have installed around 96% of the pipes (385 km). So far, around 30,810 house service connection have been given out of the proposed 43,031 connections.”