The Hindu : Front Page : Team suggests sinking of temporary borewells to bring down water table

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Wednesday, Apr 04, 2007
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Team suggests sinking of temporary borewells to bring down water table

Special Correspondent

Report on laying of underground sewer lines submitted to TWAD Board

TIRUCHI: A two-member team from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, which was requested to study the technical problems hampering the laying of underground sewer lines here, has suggested sinking of temporary borewells to bring down the water table in Srirangam.

The team, comprising S. Mohan and K.S. Jinesh Babu of Civil Engineering Department of the IIT, has submitted the report to Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board after a recent field visit.

The underground drainage scheme, sanctioned at a cost of Rs.91.89 crore, has run into technical and legal glitches in the final stages, delaying its completion.

Nearly 80 per cent of the project has been completed. Sewer lines could not be laid in certain parts of Srirangam, accounting for a total stretch of 4.3 kilometres, due to the high water table.

The IIT team has suggested that borewells with submersible pumps could be sunk sequentially at a distance of 10 metres each. By operating both the wells simultaneously the ground water could be pumped out and sewer lines laid, in the particular segment. This would be a viable option in all locations, the report said.

TWAD officials said that the recommendations would be tried out to assess cost-effectiveness. "We will have to work out the cost involved before adopting the suggestion for the entire critical segment in Srirangam," a senior official said.

The Defence Ministry has issued clearance for laying sewer lines across the Defence lands at Mannarpuram and the work has already commenced.

However, the legal wrangle over land acquisition for establishing a pumping station at Vasudevan Street in Srirangam remains unresolved with the owners obtaining a fresh court injunction.

Work on laying the sewer lines on Vayalur Road, another critical segment, is likely to commence later this month after necessary arrangements for traffic diversion was put in place.

Collector Ashish Vachhani said that efforts were being made to complete the project before October.

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