The Hindu 31.08.2009
Work on new water tanks to begin shortly
S. Ganesan
Per capita drinking water supply will go up to an uniform 135 litres a day
The 35 tanks will create an additional storage capacity of 163 lakh litres
TIRUCHI: Work on building 35 additional overhead drinking water tanks and pumping mains for a length of about 85 km under four different packages of the drinking water supply augmentation scheme for the city is to begin shortly.
The scheme being executed with financial assistance from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation was expected to end the disparities in the quantum of water supplied to different parts of the city and bring several new colonies under the distribution network.
Once commissioned, the per capita drinking water supply would go up to uniform 135 litres a day to all parts of the city. The project has been split into eight major packages for construction of collector wells, laying of distribution mains, improvements to existing line and construction of overhead tanks.
Currently work is under way on two packages for the construction of three collector wells on the Coleroon River.
The bids received for the four packages, for which re-tenders were called, were approved by the Tender Award Committee last week. “Work orders for the four packages will be issued within the next few days with the approval of the Corporation Council and the works will commence soon after,” Commissioner T.T. Balsamy told The Hindu.
The 35 additional overhead tanks (OHTs) will create an additional storage capacity of 163 lakh litres and they would be located in various parts of the city.
The new OHTs will be in addition to the existing 54. Additional distribution mains have been proposed for a total stretch of over 262 km.
However, once the new Collector Wells were ready, expected by April next year, the Corporation has planned to start pumping water under the new scheme by linking it to the existing distribution network without waiting for the completion of all the packages.
The new scheme will tap about 58.60 MLD immediately on completion and 93.26 MLD in the ultimate stage in 2039.
Currently, a major portion of the City’s water requirement, about 86 MLD, is tapped from the Cauvery River.
The financial estimate of the project, originally put at Rs.144.86 crores, has now been revised to Rs.169 crores.
