The Hindu            23.10.2013

86 p.c. of underground drainage work complete

Execution of the underground drainage scheme has gathered pace with 86 per cent of the work completed in Ariyalur.

Work
on the Rs.27.5-crore project had been taken up in two phases. The first
phase, being executed at a cost of Rs. 22.43 crore, covers 36 km,
including arterial roads of the town.

The State
government has sanctioned Rs. 2 crore under the Tamil Nadu Urban Road
Development Project and Rs. 2.42 crore under the Tamil Nadu Urban
Development Project for undertaking repair of roads damaged by digging
trenches for laying underground sewage pipeline.

The
second phase of work would be taken up in areas left out during the
initial survey. The first phase of work was originally scheduled to be
completed by March 2012. The project was expected to benefit 10,986
units, including 9,942 individual households.

Contract
for execution of the work was signed on November 8, 2010, but the
project progressed at a snail’s pace. The scheme gathered pace after the
public made repeated representations to the administration about the
hardships faced by them because of battered roads. The arterial
Senthurai Road had become out of bounds for buses and people, especially
students, had to walk from their educational institutions and home to
reach the bus stand, located a few km away.

Collector
E. Saravanavelraj, who inspected the infrastructure development work
undertaken on Muniappar Temple Street and V. O. C. Street on Tuesday,
said that 86 per cent of the underground drainage work had been
completed in Ariyalur. About 40 per cent of the work on the sewage
treatment plant was over. The plant would come up with a capacity to
treat four millions litres of sewage daily.

Work on
providing basic facilities, streetlights and drinking water connections,
had been taken up at a cost of Rs. 4.31 crore in 2012-13. Twelve out of
13 roads taken up for relaying at a cost of Rs. 2.68 crore had been
completed, according to an official release.