Survey for 24x7 water project to conclude soon

COIMBATORE: The much-awaited 24x7 water supply project is gradually inching closer to the implementation stage with the French firm Suez Projects Pvt Ltd, which bagged the contract, completing more than 95% of consumer, topography, network and geographic information surveys. A corporation official said the firm was likely to conclude all the surveys within a month and start actual work in near future.

The French firm had been conducting these surveys since January to study the water requirement of the public, the present condition of pipelines and the elevation points of land, said an official involved in the project. “The company has completed topographic survey for about 1,444km out of the 1,500km and the survey is likely to be completed in another 10 days. The consumer survey has been done in 40 out of the 60 wards and the remaining wards might be covered within a month,” the official, who didn’t want to be named, said.

While the firm had already completed the network survey, it is yet to map household connections in 20 wards into their software as it is being done along with the geographic information survey, the official said.

The French firm, meanwhile, is expected to implement the project in wards 23 and 24 of RS Puram on a pilot basis from December, the official said. “Trial pits had been dug at multiple points across the region to check the condition of existing pipelines, which come in three types - cast iron pipes, PVC pipes and asbestos cement pipes. All the PVC and asbestos cement pipes will be replaced with cast iron pipes.”

The cast iron pipelines would be replaced only if they were in bad shape, the official said and added additional pipes would be laid in cases where the pipelines are in good condition, but their diameter is too small to meet the water requirement of the public.

Pointing out that the pipeline network was 58km long in RS Puram, where there are 6,600 water connections, the official said the length of pipelines to be relaid would be determined based on the requirement of population in the region in 2044. “The designing phase is still in progress.”

The French firm is expected to complete the project in RS Puram by April next year. “After that it will implement the project in other wards one by one,” the official said.

The project, which was the last to be sanctioned under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURN), would be implemented at a cost of Rs 2,961 crore. The contract was given to the French firm for a period of 26 years – one year for study, four years for implementation and 21 years for maintenance.