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.