The Hindu        26.08.2014 

Corporation wants to maintain Kurichi Tank

Coimbatore Corporation moves State Government to take control of Kurichi Tank.

Coimbatore Corporation has sought permission from the
Public Works Department’s Water Resource Organisation to maintain the
Kurichi Tank. According to sources, the civic body had written to the
State Government in this regard sometime last month.

If
the civic body gets the green signal, it will be the ninth water body
under its maintenance. The other eight being Narasampathy Tank,
Krishnampathy Tak, Selvampathy Tank, Kumarasamy Tank, Selva Chinthamani
Tank, Big Tank, Valangulam and Singanallur Tank.

The
corporation took over the maintenance of the tanks in January 2010
saying that encroachments had increased, growth of thorny bushes was
heavy, the bunds had to be strengthened, silt had to be removed, the
water that flowed into the tanks should be treated, and gardens had to
be developed on the bunds.

The corporation prepared a
proposal for Rs. 200 crore, then revised it subsequently in 2013-14 to
Rs. 232 crore. It was sent to various State Government departments.
Based on the Government’s advice, the corporation on Monday decided to
take up the maintenance of Narasampathy Tank, Krishnampathy Tank,
Selvampathy Tank, and Kumarasamy Tank in the first phase at Rs. 29.47
crore with funds granted under the Tamil Nadu Sustainable Urban
Development Project.

But the corporation’s move to
gain control of the Kurichi Tank has not gone down well with environment
activists, who argue that the civic body does not have the expertise to
look after the tanks.

The civic body has not done
much work in the last three years on the eight tanks under its control.
Kurichi will be no different.

As part of the River
Noyyal ecosystem, it is better if the tanks are under the control of one
agency — the Water Resource Organisation, which has got the expertise.

The activists say that the civic body is short of staff as well.

The
corporation’s lack of expertise can be offset if it gets WRO engineers
on deputation just as it has planned to take on board engineers from the
Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board on deputation to oversee
water supply schemes, says K. Mylswami of Siruthuli.

He
says it will be easy for the corporation to act against the encroachers
when it takes up the cleaning of the tanks as it can also look at
relocating and providing housing to the people evicted.

Corporation
sources say the move to take control of the Kurichi Tank is only
logical as the tank is within the city limits and has a direct impact on
the groundwater level, something that is of direct concern to it.