The Hindu 23.08.2012
Omitted areas of Srirangam to come under underground sewerage scheme
Work on a new underground sewerage scheme (UGSS) for the omitted areas of Srirangam, including areas around Sri Ranganthaswamy Temple, is set to begin in the next few months with Tiruchi Corporation calling for tenders for the project recently.
The State government has already accorded administrative sanction to the extension of the UGSS to the areas omitted in Srirangam, at a cost of Rs.22.58 crore, under phase I of expansion of the sewer system in the city.
Tenders received for the project would be opened by the scrutiny committee on September 28.The project would be executed within 24 months and the contractor would be vested with the task of annual maintenance of the system for five years. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa is scheduled to lay the foundation stone for the project during a visit to Srirangam on September 3.
The existing underground sewerage system in the city is planned to be expanded to cover all the omitted areas in the city in three phases. Srirangam is to be covered in the first phase.
Under this phase, residential colonies spread over a radius of 10.53 square km in Srirangam and Thiruvanaikovil would be brought under the sewer network. The project would benefit a population of 31,145 in the base year of 2014, 41,924 in the intermediate stage in 2029, and 56,405 in the ultimate stage by 2044. About 5.66 million litres a day of sewage are expected to be generated in these areas by 2029 and 7.61 MLD by 2044.
The project would address one of the major shortcomings of the existing underground sewer system in Srirangam by covering the Uthira and Chithra Veedhis around the famous Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple. These streets have not been covered by the underground sewer network all these years.
The sewer lines would be laid around the temple using trenchless technology so as to ensure that the ancient rampart walls, which were already in a precarious condition at many places, were not affected. The sewer lines would have to run across narrow strips of land between the rear side of households and the ramparts of the temple. Previously, it was insisted that the sewer line should be laid only after the ramparts were fully repaired. But as this could prove to be a long drawn-out process, it was subsequently decided to adopt the trenchless technology under which underground pipes would be laid without digging trenches.
The Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board had prepared the detailed estimates for the project. The TWAD Board had also been vested with the task of preparing the project reports for the phase II and III of the UGSS expansion works.
