Even as the Coimbatore Corporation goes about executing the underground drainage work across the old city area of 60 wards, there are pockets that stand out as islands after being left out.
MeetingThe issue came to the fore when North Zone Chairman P. Rajkumar raised it at the Thursday’s Council meeting. His allegation was that for no acceptable reason, a few areas in his zone and also East Zone had been excluded.
He said that the authorities executing the underground drainage work under the Central Government’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission scheme had excluded Wards 39, 40 and 46 in the North Zone.
He as a councillor in the previous Council (2006-11) had raised the issue but it was of no use, he lamented and pointed out that the objection was right at the survey stage itself.
He continued to point out the omission when the detailed project report for the project was prepared.
East Zone Chairman K.R. Jayaram said that the engineers had left out a portion of Ward 37 and Wards 59 and 60 in full.
No drainage, roadsThe two zonal heads said that the residents of the aforementioned were not only deprived of the underground drainage facility but also good roads as the Corporation now laid roads only in those areas where underground drainage scheme had been completed.
He wanted the officials to utilise the surplus they had from executing the two other packages of the underground drainage scheme towards constructing the sewerage system in the left out areas.
Mr. Rajkumar said that the excess from Package One was Rs. 18.68 crore and Package Two Rs. 10.21 crore and suggested that the Corporation could use the surplus Rs. 28.89 crore for completing the work.
Unapproved layoutsEngineers in the JNNURM wing said that the exclusion was on account of new layouts getting regularised.
At the time of the preparation of the detailed project report, the areas that were excluded were not regularised – meaning, the Corporation did not have the obligation to provide the residents of those unapproved layouts the basic minimum services.
Subsequently, the layouts became regularised but by then the underground drainage scheme’s project report had been completed.
They said that the Corporation would take up the work when it would start the work for providing underground drainage connection in the added areas.
Project reportAt present, the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board is in the process of preparing a detailed project report for the added areas.
