Municipal Administration, Rural Development, Law Courts and Prisons
Minister KP Munusamy on Monday tabled the policy note of the Municipal
Administration and Water Supply Department for 2013-14 in the Assembly
on Monday.

The document outlined the vision for the Department in
the coming year and also presented the status of projects in 2012-13. In
the policy note, the government said it would take up the construction
of sewers across the State in a phased manner. These would be built
under the Underground Sewerage Scheme (UGSS). It said the Tamil Nadu
Water and Drainage Board (TWAD Board) had prepared 636 Detailed Project
Reports (DPRs) for projects at an estimated cost of `20820 crore. These
proposed projects are located in three Corporations, 117 Municipalities
and 516 Town Panchayats. Of this, `12150 crore worth of projects are in
the 516 Town Panchyats.

The policy note also outlined the Rural
Water Supply Programme to be implemented in 2013-14, which aims at
covering 6000 rural habitations through the Individual Power Pump Scheme
and the Combined Water Supply Scheme. The outlay for this project has
been pegged at `1190.72 crore.

The policy note also lined out
other priorities such as  construction and maintenance of roads in urban
areas,  improvement of ground water resource across the State,  phased
conversion of all street lamps into energy-efficient LED lamps,
improvement in solid waste management infrastructure and services and a
continued thrust to make Tamil Nadu an open defecation-free State by
2015.