The Hindu                26.04.2013

Civic body to terminate stormwater drain contracts

After extending the deadline for the JNNURM-funded
stormwater drain work a number of times in the city, the Chennai
Corporation has finally decided to terminate the contract in many
stretches. If the Chennai Corporation Council passes a resolution on
Friday, the civic body will resume the work based on a revised detailed
project report.

The delayed packages of stormwater
drain works will be split into smaller packages for speedy completion by
this north east monsoon.

The watersheds to be
terminated include Cooum, Adyar, Central Buckingham Canal, Chellamal
College Canal, MGR Canal and Jafferkhanpet Canal. However, deadline for
some watersheds, where work has been relatively better, are likely to be
extended by the Corporation Council on Friday.

Work
on key stretches such as Nelson Manickam Road, Anna Salai, Poonamallee
High Road, Arunachalam Street, Anna Nagar Second Avenue, Gandhi Irwin
Road, Egmore High Road, Mayor Ramanathan Salai, Casa Major Road, Raja
Annamalai Salai, Kodambakkam High Road Swami Sivananda Salai, Sterling
Road and Ayya Mudali Street that drain stormwater into Cooum River will
also be terminated.

The revised detailed project
report has been prepared for the stretches and tender will be floated
for the works shortly. Of the 98 works in the Cooum watershed, only 22
works have been completed and 24 are under way. As many as 52 works will
be terminated. The contractor has completed only 35 percent of the
works in Cooum watershed so far. The original deadline for completion of
facilities that drain into Cooum was October 28, 2010. The civic body
has however, extended the deadline for completion of some of the works
in Cooum watershed to September 8, 2013.

Similarly,
the civic body has decided to terminate contract covering stretches such
as Gandhi Nagar Main Road, Velachery Main Road, Taluk Office Road,
Gandhi Mandapam Salai, Santhome High Road, Ashok Pillar Road and 100-ft
Road as the contractor has been able to complete only around 35 percent
of the works in Adyar watershed.

The civic body had
recently extended the deadline for completion of the work, citing
reasons such as the monsoon, sand scarcity, traffic restrictions by
police and hindrance caused by shifting of utilities. Deadline for works
on watersheds such as Kolathur, Royapuram and North Buckingham Canal
are likely to be extended. Extension of the deadline for all the
watersheds was granted a few months ago. The work in Virugambakkam and
Arumbakkam watersheds were proposed to be completed on November 1, 2012.
The civic body had extended the deadline by six months to July 1, 2013.

All
stormwater drain work in Velachery was expected to be completed on
April 25, 2012. The civic body had extended the deadline to March 25,
2013. The work in North Buckingham Canal was expected to be completed on
January 7, 2013. The deadline was extended to July 6, 2013. Work in
Royapuram is expected to be completed on June 15, 2013. Opposition by
residents along canals to biometric survey was also one of the reasons
for delay in completion of the work in many parts of the city.