The Hindu       07.08.2011

11 panels told to submit detailed reports for Coimbatore city expansion by August 27

The 11 committees the Coimbatore Corporation had formed to study the city expansion project will go into details and submit a fresh, in-depth report on August 27.

Sources in the civic body said after the committees submitted their initial findings on Saturday, they were asked to do a fresh, scientific study in such a manner that would help in the preparation of a detailed project report to take up works in the 11 local bodies to be integrated with the Corporation.

The sources that the committee on solid waste management would, for example, study the waste generated in a ward of a local body and scale it up for the entire local body. Though this might not be accurate, it would present a near approximate picture of the waste generated in the local body.

The committee formed to study water supply would study how many borewells needed to be dug, the water availability in each of the 11 local bodies and suggest what needed to be done to ensure that residents of the 11 local bodies also got 135 litres a person a day.

The sources also said that the committee on tax collection would study the tax potential in the 11 local bodies, the number of tax collections centres needed to be established, etc.

The committee on street lights had identified that the city would have another 28,000-odd street lights if the 11 local bodies were to be integrated.

Now they would study what needed to be done to bring them under the Corporation's power conservation programme and how many energy savers were needed.

In the run-up to the city expansion, the Corporation is also toying with the idea of expanding its underground drainage network.

This would be in addition to the 583 km sewerage network the Corporation is laying at present for Rs. 377 crore under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

The sources said that the plan was to lay another 125 km sewerage network at areas in the city that had been excluded from the present project and the 11 local bodies. The Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board had been tasked with studying the UGD needs of the 11 local bodies.

The sources said the Corporation would co-ordinate with the 11 local bodies and the TWAD Board in implementing the project.