Urban Infrastructure

State gets its first solar toilets

Thursday, 28 February 2013 06:45 administrator

The Hindu 28.02.2013

State gets its first solar toilets

Sensor-based units set up in Tambaram under pilot project; to be free for public use.

The State got its first solar, sensor-based toilets, with the Tambaram municipality installing three units at the junction of Duraiswamy Reddy Street and GST Road on Wednesday.

‘Namma toilets’, the user-friendly units made of fibre reinforced polymer material, were inaugurated by animal husbandry minister T.K.M. Chinnayya at an event that also saw the participation of Tambaram municipality chairman M. Karikalan. The initiative is a pilot project in Tamil Nadu.

The toilet blocks have a stall each for elderly women and women with physical disabilities, one for men and another for women.

The lighting in all the stalls is based on solar energy, and the stalls have sensors that are connected to the lighting system. When the sensors detect movement, the lights automatically switch on. They switch off when the user has left, thereby helping in energy conservation.

Officials of the Tambaram municipality said the project was designed and initiated by the Commissionerate of Municipal Administration for residents to have access to clean and hygienic toilets, and to ensure that by 2023, the locality was free of open defecation.

The design of the toilets was developed in six months to cater to all user groups. A study on cultural appropriateness in the State by the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, also helped in the development of the design, officials said.

The toilets have several advantages over the conventional 12 existing toilets in Tambaram. Besides being corrosion-free, the toilets have two digesters to process waste and release sewage into the existing network after processing it.

S. Sivasubramanian, Tambaram municipal commissioner said that each of the three toilets cost around Rs. 70,000.

“People will not be charged for using these toilets. Two workers will be deployed to clean and maintain the toilets, and they will be open round the clock,” he said.

The municipality plans to tie up with private institutions for maintenance. From April, the toilets will be maintained by IDBI bank.

Mr. Sivasubramanian said that there were plans to extend the ‘Namma toilets’ facility to Nehru Nagar, KK Palayam, Mullai Nagar and GST Road soon. These areas will be provided with units comprising two toilets.

The facility will then be extended to other parts of Tambaram and across the State, after a team of experts, including those from Industrial Design Centre, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, completes a study and validates user experience in Tambaram.

The Commissionerate of Municipal Administration is also chalking out plans to establish a waste-water treatment plant to ensure the safe disposal of waste.

Last Updated on Thursday, 28 February 2013 06:52

Traders around Gandhi Market to be shifted to G.Corner grounds

Thursday, 28 February 2013 06:16 administrator

The Hindu 28.02.2013

Traders around Gandhi Market to be shifted to G.Corner grounds

Banana bunches at Gandhi Market in the city.file photo

Wholesale traders in onion, banana, jaggery and fruits, currently functioning around Gandhi Market in the city, could soon be asked to shift to G.Corner grounds along the Tiruchi-Chennai bypass road in the city soon if the corporation managed to give shape to its proposal.

The Corporation Council on Wednesday approved a proposal to shift the ‘vengayya mandi,’ ‘vazhakai mandi,’ ‘vellamandi’ and the ‘pazha mandi’ to G.Corner grounds where the civic body owns about five acres of land. However, the council’s nod came with a rider as it asked the officials to implement the decision in consultation with the traders concerned.

The move comes in the wake of a long-pending proposal to shift the wholesale sections to the outskirts of the city.

Over the past two decades, sporadic efforts were made to identify a suitable location for shifting the wholesale traders, all of whom occupy the peripheries of Gandhi Market, making the area a major traffic bottleneck.

But the efforts came a cropper and a couple of years ago, a move to acquire the Aavin lands at Ariyamangalam for the purpose, was struck down by the Madurai Bench of the High Court of Madras.

An official resolution approved by the council pointed out that Gandhi Market, established around 70 years ago, was facing heavy congestion. Road traffic around the market often came to a standstill as the wholesale mandis were all situated around the market.

A slaughter house has been established at G.Corner where 6.42 acres of land was handed over to the corporation in 2000 by the district administration.

The remaining five acres was available for relocating the mandis. Being close to the highway, the site would be ideally suited for the traders to carry on their business without any hindrance to traffic. The corporation would soon clean the grounds to enable the shifting of the shops, the resolution said.

Speaking on the subject, M.Mohamed Mustafa, MDMK, wondered whether five acres would be adequate to accommodate all the shops. A few other councillors pointed out that some of the wholesale traders, such as the onion traders, have acquired own lands. The councillors asked the officials to take the traders into confidence before implementing the decision.

Last Updated on Thursday, 28 February 2013 06:26

Officials asked to expedite UGD work

Friday, 15 February 2013 06:52 administrator

The Hindu 15.02.2013

Officials asked to expedite UGD work

Syed Muthahar Saqaf

The long-pending underground drainage work in Pudukottai town and its suburbs is expected to be completed by March-end and the district administration has taken all steps for expediting the programme.

It was originally planned to execute the underground drainage work at an outlay of Rs.32.16 crore. Later the project cost was revised and the government sanctioned a revised outlay of Rs.48.16 crore for the project.

Accompanied by officials from Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board and municipal officials, the District Collector, C.Manoharan, inspected various works being executed under the scheme, which was designed about six years ago, on Wednesday. The total cumulative length of sewer line within the municipal limits is about 135 km.

He inspected the sewage treatment plant coming up at Maruppurani Pulvayal. On noticing that only 70 per cent of the works had been completed on the treatment plant, the Collector sought explanations from the TWAD Board officials and the contractor for the inordinate delay. He directed them to complete all the works by March 31 and bring the project to public use without any further delay.

He inspected the works of laying the pipelines in progress at Janaki nagar and on Kovilpatti road.

K.Arumugam, Assistant Executive Engineer, Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board and R.Murugesan, Municipal Commissioner, were present.

Last Updated on Friday, 15 February 2013 06:56

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