Urban News

The Hindu 18.07.2009

Corporation decides to have exclusive wing for waste management

Special Correspondent

COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore Corporation will have a special team to implement solid waste management in the city and appoint more engineers for the Basic Services for the Urban Poor project, under which houses will be built for slum-dwellers. A resolution to this effect was adopted at an emergency meeting of the Corporation Council on Tuesday.

This followed a demand from councillors that the Corporation should have a special wing to implement the Rs.96 crore solid waste management scheme. And, there must be enough engineers and other staff members for all the schemes planned under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, councillors of the Corporation said at an emergency meeting on Tuesday to adopt a resolution on new posts sanctioned and salaries fixed for these.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) member C. Padmanabhan asserted that there must an exclusive wing of engineers to carry out the waste management project. Referring to details provided in the resolution, he said only 30 of the 52 sanctioned posts for the JNNURM wing had been filled.

The CPI (M) member pointed this out when a reference was made on the Government sanctioning eight more posts to the JNNURM wing, namely Information Technology Officer, Municipal Finance Officer, Public Health Engineer, Social and Community Development Officer, Procurement Officer, Environmental Officer and Human Resource Development Officer.

The tenure of these posts was only three years. The total salary for all three years would be Rs.58.50 crore. The Central Government would provide 100 per cent of the first year’s salary (Rs.26 lakh). It would provide 75 per cent in the second year (Rs.19.50 lakh) and 50 per cent (Rs.13 lakh) in the third year. The balance amount would be paid by the local body.

Appreciating the move to create new posts, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam member P. Rajkumar, however, said that more junior engineers were needed to carry out the houses for the urban poor project. “At present the available engineers are being diverted to this project and this affects routine work. At least five junior engineers must be appointed in each of the four zones as the Corporation will have to implement the underground drainage scheme also,” he said.

Mr. Padmanabhan said only one engineer was handling waste management now. This was way below the requirement.

“We do not seem to have made an assessment of the requirement.

We can request the Government for more posts for JNNURM,” he said.

The resolution to have an exclusive team of engineers for waste management and more engineers for the BSUP scheme was passed after the discussions.

The Hindu 18.07.2009

Signs of Coimbatore drainage scheme taking off

K.V. Prasad

COIMBATORE: After a 10-year wait, the underground drainage scheme for more than 70 per cent of the city seems set to take off. But, the city will have to wait till the by-election to the Thondamuthur Assembly Constituency (scheduled for August 18) is over.

The Coimbatore Corporation will implement the scheme under the Central Government’s infrastructure development programme, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. The Central Government will meet 50 per cent of the project cost of Rs. 377 crore through grant and the State Government 20 per cent. The Corporation will have to spend the rest 30 per cent.

It is learnt that the Corporation has issued work orders to begin two components of the scheme, but Thursday’s announcement of the by-election to some constituencies has put the scheme on hold. Indications from the Corporation are that the works will begin soon after the elections. A move for a formal start to the work on Friday was given up almost soon after it was planned, because of the announcement of the polls.

But, what offers comfort to the people in the city is the indication that a long wait for scheme is coming to an end. The Corporation aims at completing the scheme in two years. The JNNURM project period is for seven years from 2005. Besides, with the elections to the Assembly scheduled for 2011, the aim is to complete as many long-pending schemes as possible by then.

The Corporation has already begun works on establishing two sewage treatment plants – one at Ukkadam and another at Nanjundapuram. The civic body and the councillors lay stress on quick implementation of two key schemes: one for underground drainage and the other for augmenting supply of drinking water.

While it may take only another month for the drainage scheme to take off, the Corporation has begun works on the Pilloor Phase II drinking water scheme. The civic body is clear that the drainage scheme is vital to ensuring total sanitation across the city. Underground sewers will eliminate the abuse of storm water drains that are meant only for rain water.

The drainage scheme was re-worked even after it was included in the JNNURM. The mission directorate had returned the proposal to the Corporation by pointing out that the figures of the waste water discharge from houses and other establishments needed to be re-worked on the basis of the quantum of drinking water supplied.

The Corporation’s detailed project report had worked out waste water discharge figures on the basis of the 90 litres per capita per day (lpcd) supply of drinking water. But, after the implementation of the Pilloor Phase II drinking water scheme, the aim was to step up supply to 130 lpcd. Pointing out that the discharge of waste water also would rise because of this, the directorate wanted the Corporation to rework this particular aspect of the drainage scheme.

Another change made to the original proposal was the inclusion of more than 700 layouts after the house sites in these were regularised.