The Hindu              25.10.2013

Soon, Pallavaram to get covered stormwater drains

Pallavaram municipality may soon get a fully covered
stormwater drain network with a massive proposal for the facility being
conceived by the State government.

The project, with
an estimated cost of Rs. 200 crore, will cover all 42 wards and is
expected to take off once the underground drainage project in the
municipality is completed.

According to official
sources, the project is primarily aimed at ensuring that grey water from
houses, shops and other commercial establishments is diverted through a
networked and engineered system into pumping stations and subsequently
the sewage treatment plant. This way, the principal water bodies and
water channels in Pallavaram municipality could be saved from further
degradation, the sources added.

Officials of the department of municipal administration and water supply told
The Hindu
that the finer points of the detailed project report were still being finalised.

Recently,
a public hearing for the proposed project was convened to facilitate
the airing of views, doubts and grievances of residents and
representatives of civic groups.

The residents’
primary concern was if they would have to share the cost of the project.
Officials had clearly stated that unlike the underground drainage and
water supply improvement projects, the new project would not involve
contributions from the public.

Officials had also
said the underground drainage project, that now covers nearly 6,000
households, would be completed in a year’s time and cover all the
40,000-odd households.

Pallavaram is among the few
local bodies in the suburbs in Chennai metropolitan area where a
underground drainage project is currently under way. Principal pumping
stations in multiple locations and a sewage treatment plant in Perungudi
have already been completed.