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New Indian Express
26-05-2025
- General
- New Indian Express
From river to home, it's a ‘raw' deal for south Tamil Nadu
TIRUNELVELI/TENKASI: Amid mounting complaints from people that the quality of drinking water being supplied under various Combined Water Supply Schemes (CWSSs) in some southern districts is not good, it has come to light that the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board is drawing water directly from the Thamirabarani river instead of sourcing it through infiltration wells dug along the river bed. Infiltration well is a structure which removes impurities from water. A visit by TNIE to Mukkudal, from where drinking water is supplied to Tirunelveli, Tenkasi and Virudhunagar districts, revealed that a portion of water supplied under the Vasudevanallur (Tenkasi) CWSS and Rajapalayam (Virudhunagar) CWSS is being drawn directly from the river. Around six huge submersible motors were immersed in the river near the Mukkudal bridge---- where local residents routinely wash clothes, bathe, clean themselves after open defecation, and dump household waste — to extract river water for supply to over 100 villages. In addition, many infiltration wells located at Mukkudal were found damaged. One such well, situated near the Muthumalai Amman temple, where tourists bathe using soap and shampoo, receives water directly from the river. This contaminated water enters the damaged wells, from which raw water is being drawn under the CWSS network and supplied to residents without treatment. Sources told TNIE that, apart from Vasudevanallur and Rajapalayam, raw river water is being supplied under other CWSSs in Mukkudal. 'The infiltration well for the Kadayanallur scheme was deliberately damaged by a TWAD Board contractor, enabling direct flow of river water into it. The practices similar to Mukkudal are followed in Seevalaperi and a few spots in Thoothukudi,' said an official.
Time of India
10-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Kurichi-Kuniyamuthur UGD project to be fully commissioned by July
Coimbatore: Now that the for the Kurichi-Kuniyamuthur underground drainage (UGD) project has reached its final leg, the project is expected to be fully commissioned by July. While work on the Rs591 crore project started in 2018, it missed the 2021 deadline owing to the Covid-19 pandemic and delayed approval from the railway department for laying the pipeline across the Podanur-Pollachi railway to an official source, work on laying the pipeline across the railway line was pending for long, prompting authorities to commission the project until the railway line. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "We had to lay the pipeline for 300 meters across the Podanur-Pollachi railway line. We have laid the pipeline for 200 metres and now just 100 metres is left. Work on both the water supply and UGD pipelines is being carried out simultaneously in collaboration with the railways, Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board and the city corporation," the source said. The railways is also constructing an iron rail over-bridge and an underground box culvert to support the pipeline work. Commenting on the project progress, a official said, "Work on the box culvert and over-bridge is pending only by another 50 meters and 25 metres, respectively. Once all these are completed, the project is ready to go. However, house service connections will begin only after laying the pipeline. Two of the four pumping stations are already commissioned. Now, the focus is on integrating the connections from the remaining two pumping stations on Chatram Street and at Chinna Sudugadu. "When contacted, corporation commissioner M Sivaguru Prabhakaran said the pipeline laying work on the railway crossing section would be completed by May 20. "After that, we will proceed with house service connections, which will take another two and half months. The total target is 42,000 house service connections, of which 7,500 have already been completed. The total processing capacity of the project is 10 million litres per day."
New Indian Express
08-05-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Kurichi-Kuniyamuthur UGD works slated for completion by July
COIMBATORE: The pipeline installation project, executed by the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board and Southern Railways, in coordination with the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC), is in its final stage. The project involves laying pipelines for the Kurichi-Kuniyamuthur drinking water scheme and the underground drainage (UGD) system across the Podanur-Pollachi railway tracks. The civic body, along with TWAD and railway authorities, has begun setting up an iron bridge above the tracks to support the pipeline infrastructure. The UGD project works in wards 87 to 100 in the city are being carried out at an estimated cost of `591 crores using the Asian Development Bank (ADB) fund. The work began in 2018 and was originally slated for completion by 2021. But due to the Covid-19 pandemic and other issues, the completion was delayed, and is now likely to be commissioned from June this year, added sources. A senior official from TWAD Board told TNIE that the delay in obtaining necessary approvals from Southern Railways had pushed the timeline for the iron bridge construction. "Due to the delay in railway's approval for installing the bridge near Podanur, the overall progress was affected. However, a few UGD connections before the railway tracks have already been commissioned using the 3 MLD Sewage Treatment Plant," the official said.
New Indian Express
06-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Sanction Rs 70 lakh to set up drinking water facility at Alangulam college: Tirunelveli MP Robert Bruce
TENKASI: Citing deficient water infrastructure at a government college in Alangulam in Tenkasi district, Tirunelveli MP C Robert Bruce has petitioned Higher Education Minister Govi Chezhiaan to sanction Rs 70 lakh to the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board for establishing a drinking water facility at the institution. In a memorandum submitted to the minister during a recent meeting at the secretariat, Bruce pointed out that over 892 students and staff members of Alangulam Government Arts and Science College for Women have been facing severe inconvenience due to a lack of adequate drinking water infrastructure. He said, 'With plans underway to introduce additional academic programmes during the present fiscal, the student strength is expected to exceed 1,500.' Bruce said that a proposal for a dedicated drinking water scheme, estimated at Rs 70 lakh, has already been prepared by the TWAD Board and remains pending due to lack of funds. He urged the minister to consider releasing the funds through the Higher Education Department to implement the scheme. Later, while speaking to reporters, he said the minister had assured him that the demand would be taken up with due priority.
