The Hindu 12.02.2010

Development works inspected

— Photo: K. Ganesan

Spot-check: Chief Secretary K.S. Sripathi (third from left) inspecting a sewage treatment plant at Vellaikal in Madurai on Saturday.

MADURAI: Chief Secretary K.S. Sripathi inspected various development works taken up by the Corporation on Thursday.

At Vellaikal, where he inspected the on-going construction works of sewage treatment plant (STP), he was told that it would be the biggest such facility planned in the country with sequential batch reactors, a newer technology. The plant here was designed to treat 125 million litres of sewage a day. The 100-MLD plant set up in Navi Mumbai had been the biggest so far.

The officials told him that the new technology occupied only 10 per cent of the land which is otherwise required to set up the conventional STP. Besides, it consumed less power, and operational cost was also lesser.

Mr. Sripathi later inspected lining work of drainage channel at Virattipathu and basic infrastructure development works taken up for the urban poor near Central prison.

Director of Municipal Administration B. Senthil Kumar, Corporation Commissioner S. Sebastine, Chief Engineer K. Sakthivel and District Revenue Officer Dinesh Ponraj Oliver were among those who accompanied him.

The Hindu 10.02.2010

“Work on 72 km of drainage project over”

Special Correspondent

CUDDALORE: Of the 148-km-long underground drainage project being executed by the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board in Cuddalore, work on a 72-km stretch has been completed in the past three years, according to T. Thangarasu, Chairman of the Cuddalore Municipality.

Addressing a municipal council meeting, Mr. Thangarasu said that after laying the underground pipeline, the TWAD Board was handing over the streets and lanes to the civic body for road construction.

Thus, new tar roads had so far been laid over a distance of 40 km and the officials had promised to complete the entire work by the year-end. When the councillors brought his attention to the delay in the execution of the subway at the Lawrence Road railway crossing, the Chairman said that a representation could be given to the Collector for speeding up the work.

Some councillors pointed out that owing to scanty preventive measures, there was a profuse breeding of mosquitoes, resulting in spread of the vector-borne diseases in the town.

The Chairman pointed out that such diseases were prevalent across the State.

However, he promised to arrange for regular fogging in the municipality.

In response to a complaint that identity cards being issued under the Kalaignar Health Insurance Scheme for Life-Saving Treatments were not proper in all details and were without residential address, Mr. Thangarasu said that he would take up the issue with the Collector.

As for issuing ‘patta’ to those who were living in a particular area for a specified period, Mr. Thangarasu said that he could take action only after the council adopted a resolution.

Vice-Chairman Thamaraiselvan called for disconnecting unauthorised water connections and pressing into service more water tankers to cover interior areas.

There was commotion for a while when AIADMK councillor Seval Kumar and others urged Municipal Commissioner Kumar to answer their queries.

When the Commissioner started responding to them from his seat, the councillors urged him to stand and speak.

When the Commissioner said that the elected representatives should not adopt a confrontationist approach, there were shouts and counter shouts which subsided only after the intervention of the Chairman.