The State government again extended the deadline for completing the decade-old 355 km underground sewer network project in Mangalore city till March end 2014, according to a top government official.
After several extensions in the past, an empowered committee of the government had set the end of this month a0s the deadline for completing the Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded project launched in 2003. The Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) took up the works under a project called Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environmental Management Project (KUDCEMP).
M. Yashwant Raj, Executive Engineer, and in-charge Superintending Engineer, KUDCEMP, Mangalore told The Hindu that of the three pending issues, including two railway-related, which came in the way of completing the project, two have been addressed. Since the only pending issue was being addressed currently, they hoped that the project would be over by March-end, paving the way for people to provide house connection to manholes in all areas.
Referring to the pending issue, he said the Southern Railway was yet to permit laying of a 91m-long main sewage carrying pipeline (link line) through a culvert below the railway tracks near the Central Railway Station. However, he said that senior railway officials and he conducted a joint inspection of the spot a week ago.
Following this, the railway officials who responded positively had sought a requisition letter from him, which he had written a day ago. He was expecting the go-ahead shortly.
The link line would carry the sewage water from houses and other buildings in Attavar and Kaprigudda areas to Pandeshwar wet well (sewage collection points). From there it would be pumped to Kudroli wet well, from where it will be pumped to Kavoor sewage treatment plant.
He said that after the railways permitted laying of a 100m link line below the railway tracks at Yekkur recently, works there have begun. This link line was important to pump sewage water from Shivbagh, Jayanagar, Maroli, Padil, Tarethota, Bajal and Yekkur to a sewage treatment plant at Jeppinamogaru.
He said a contractor chosen to get power connection to eight wet wells and two STPs, at Jeppinamogaru and Surathkal, would begin the works in the next two or three days. The wet wells were at Padil, Faisalnagar, Jalligudda, Jeppinamogaru, Surathkal, Idya, Hosabettu and Kulai.
