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Water Treatment

Civic body initiates steps to desilt Raliah Dam

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The Hindu               03.06.2013

Civic body initiates steps to desilt Raliah Dam

D. Radhakrishnan

It is estimated to cost Rs. 25 lakh

With water shortage having subjected the people in many parts of Coonoor and its surroundings to considerable hardship during the just concluded summer, the civic administration has initiated steps to desilt the Raliah Dam, the main source of water to the hill station.

Speaking to The Hindu here on Saturday, Municipal Commissioner A. Shanmugam said that the civic administration has for sometime now been concerned about the rising silt in the dam, the original depth of which was 43.6 feet.

Since it was estimated that silt had accumulated to a height of about six feet, the district administration had been asked to sanction funds for removing it.

Since there was only about 2.5 feet of water now it was felt that it was the right time to start the operation.

It was estimated to cost Rs. 25 lakh. Following an inspection, The Nilgiris Collector, Archana Patnaik, had given the green signal.

Work which had started earlier this week was expected to be completed in another week. However, it was now estimated that the depth of the silt is over 10 feet. Further wet weather has also started hampering the operation.

Mr. Shanmugam said that until the work was completed the requirements of the people would be met from local sources including Gymkhana and Bellattymattam.

The Raliah Dam is situated at Bandhami about eight km. from Coonoor came into being in 1938 to cater to the needs of a small population.

 

Civic body set to cash in on treated sewage

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The Hindu                31.05.2013

Civic body set to cash in on treated sewage

T. Ramakrishnan

Nagapattinam municipality to sell sewage to power company

Taking a cue from Chennai, the 147-year-old municipality of Nagapattinam is set to use sewage to generate additional income. The urban local body will soon sell treated sewage to a power company.

A few weeks ago, the State government issued an order, allowing the local body to sell 2.5 million litres a day (MLD) of secondary-treated sewage to KVK Nagai Power, which is part of a Hyderabad-based group, implementing power generation projects in different States.

The municipality will get Rs. 11.30 per kilo litre initially which will go up by five per cent annually.

The company will use sewage to meet water requirements of the upcoming power plant, which will be commissioned in one and a half years, says A. Manjunath, Chief Executive Officer of the power company.

Shortly, the local body will enter into an agreement with the power company, says an official in the office of Commissioner of Municipal Administration.

The pact will be renewed once in three years or on mutually-agreed terms.

A couple of companies have approached the authorities for similar arrangement in Cuddalore and Perambalur municipalities.

At present, an underground sewer project is under execution in Nagapattinam and the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board is setting up two sewage treatment plants (STP), one for Nagore and another for other parts of the town. The Nagore plant will have a capacity of 2.96 MLD and the other plant, 9.63 MLD.

The STPs are expected to be ready by the time the power plant is commissioned.

Asked why his company has preferred sewage to water in a district that is not known for water shortage, Dr. Manjunath replies that when he came to know that secondary-treated sewage from the proposed power plant would be let out to the sea, he had approached the authorities with a request for purchase.

The sale of sewage, raw or treated, is nothing new in Tamil Nadu. For the last 15 or 20 years, the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board is selling 3 MLD of raw sewage to GMR Vasavi Power Corporation at a rate of 10 paise per KL and 36 MLD of secondary-treated sewage to Chennai Petroleum Corporation, Madras Fertilizer Limited and Manali Petrochemical Limited at a rate of Rs.11.3 per KL.

[Secondary-treated sewage pertains to the second level of treatment wherein the bulk of biological treatment takes place, leading to the reduction of biochemical demand of sewage to the permissible level].

 

Madurai ward meets drinking water needs through RO plant

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The Times of India            28.05.2013

Madurai ward meets drinking water needs through RO plant

MADURAI: Even when many areas in the city struggle to get quality drinking water regularly, residents of Iravathanallur ward in Madurai Municipal Corporation (MMC) gets purified drinking water without fail. Even before its incorporation to the city corporation as ward 55, the people here had the foresight to invest in a reverse osmosis (RO) plant. Even when other wards in Madurai city struggle to get water, every family in Iravathanallur gets two pots of purified water for a meagre Re 1.50 round the month.

Though, MMC refuses to provide any maintenance funds, the residents operate the plant with support from ward councillor, residents said.

Two RO plants were established in Iravathanallur and Vadivelkarai panchayats in 2009 with joint funding from Madurai district administration and the local panchayats. Both the plants are maintained well mainly because of public support. When Iravathanallur became part of Madurai city, locals had feared that the plant may be discarded. "We insisted on running the plant. The corporation has refused to maintain the plant, but the local councillor took it up and run it through a women's self-help group," said V Sivaraman, one of the residents. "After the area was annexed, the corporation installed plastic tanks and assured to provide water through tankers. But water was rarely filled in the tanks. We would have come to the streets demanding water, if the plant was abandoned," said M Pandiarajan, another resident.

Iravathanallur residents don't spare any effort to make the unique water project a success. Every family in Iravathanalllur is given an identity card to get the water. Every month, they punch the card to collect their quota of purified water. "We are charged Rs 45 a month for two pots of water and the identity card can be obtained only after providing proof of residence," Pandiarajan said.

"It is true that there is no funding from corporation for maintenance, but it has allowed us to continue running the plant. Recently, the corporation provided a generator to run the plant even during the power cuts," said Kamatchi Muthukumar, the ward councillor. She says the funds mobilised from the public are inadequate to operate the plant which needs regular repairs and change of equipment. "Luckily my husband owns a brick kiln and makes man and machinery available whenever required. The RO plant serves the drinking water needs of the people despite water crisis in other places," she said.

Now, people are planning to install another plant in the locality. "We are working out the plans to install another smaller plant in Periakavianur in the same ward," Kamatchi added.

 


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