With 97.5% works under the ₹ 484.45 crore Dedicated Water Supply Scheme (DWSS) completed, the scheme is expected to be commissioned in December after which all the 60 wards will be receiving protected drinking water regularly.
Under the State Annual Action Plan (SAAP) 2015-16 of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the scheme is implemented with Government of India’s share of ₹ 242.23 crore, State Government ₹ 96.89 core and ₹ 145.33 crore from the Smart City funds. The scheme aims at supplying 81.10 million litres (MLD) of water a day to all the wards in the Corporation limits and is being executed by the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board.
Water is drawn from the River Cauvery at Varadanallur village at Uratchikottai in Bhavani and pumped to the treatment plant with 120 MLD capacity after which clean water is collected in a water sump of 52 lakh litre capacity. Later, water is pumped to sumps at Suriyampalayam and VOC Park from where it will be distributed to reservoirs and later to households and commercial establishments.
A senior TWAD Board engineer told The Hindu that 46 existing reservoirs will be used while of the proposed 21 reservoirs, work has been completed for 16 reservoirs. “Five reservoirs are being constructed and work will be completed in two months”, the official said. Also, of the total 1.05 lakh new house service connections (HSCs) proposed, 5,000 HSCs are yet to be given, he added. The official said that currently water is pumped into 44 existing and 10 new reservoirs and is distributed to the households.
The scheme is designed to supply 81.10 MLD of water to the present population of 5.35 lakh, 114.75 MLD of water to seven lakh population in 2032 and 147.69 MLD of water to 9.05 lakh population in 2047. Work order was issued to Larson and Toubro Limited, Chennai, and work commenced on June 3, 2017 and was scheduled to be completed by June, 2019. But, COVID-19 pandemic and other factors delayed the completion by over a year.
Corporation Commissioner M. Elangovan told The Hindu that major works were completed and other works are expected to be completed in two months. “The scheme ensures 135 litres per capita per day for the people in the city”, he added.