The Hindu 16.04.2013
Two more sweeping machines for Chennai
Taking into account the need to keep clean the roads of a
rapidly growing city, two more sweeping machines will be introduced for
around 230 km of roads under the Chennai Corporation. Moving the
demands for the highways department in the Assembly on Monday, Minister
Edappadi K. Palaniswami said that Tiruchi, Salem, Madurai and Coimbatore
will also get one machine each at a total cost of Rs. 4.50 crore.
The
city already has two machines purchased four years ago; they clean Anna
Salai and Jawaharlal Nehru Salai. One of the two new machines would be
used on Poonamallee High Road and the other one for the remaining roads
that number around 20 and include Walltax Road.
Sources
said that tenders worth Rs. 1.39 crore and Rs. 1.16 crore have been
called for Anna Salai and Jawaharlal Nehru Salai respectively. The
practice is that the department will provide the machine and the
contractor will pay for the diesel and driver. The contractor will be
paid by the hour and the period of the contract would be one year.
The
work includes cleaning using the machine, painting the kerb stones and
the median in white and black and also manual cleaning of footpaths,
kerb and medians using personnel. They would also have to clean and
spruce up the roads before VIP visits.
“The machine
can only remove dust off the carriageway. It cannot clean the thick
layers along the medians. It will also not work in wet conditions; so
cleaning will also have to be done on a manual basis. Similarly, the
contractor will also be responsible for cleaning of chutes leading to
stormwater drains,” explained a source. The machines are used only at
night.
Training centre
The
Minister also announced that a training centre would come up at a cost
of Rs. 14.16 crore at the Highways Research Station campus in Guindy.
Mr. Palaniswami also said that residential complex for Chief Engineers
would be constructed at a cost of Rs. 6 crore.
