The Corporation has decided to hire a consultant at a cost of Rs. 19.50 lakh to prepare a revised project report on implementing underground drainage (UGD) project in the uncovered areas which will have separate treatment plants in respective zones.
A resolution to this effect was passed in the council meeting held on Friday evening. Sources said the uncovered areas of the Corporation might get the UGD facility within a couple of years.
When the first phase of the UGD project was implemented on an outlay of Rs. 52 crore under the National River Water Conservation Programme, 10 wards were covered fully and 22 wards partly.
To execute this project in the uncovered areas on an outlay of Rs. 490 crore, the State government is seeking assistance from either German or Japanese firms.
When the second phase of the project would be implemented in stages, the treatment plants and the pumping stations will be established in the zones to make pumping of sewage to Ramaiyanpatti treatment plant more effective.
Since this work requires redesigning, a Bangalore-based consultant is to be hired for which the Corporation has decided to allot Rs. 19.50 lakh.
The Council meeting also decided to allot Rs. 2 crore for the construction of Melapalayam zone office, which is now functioning from a cramped old building.
When councillors Thowlath and Ganesan, both from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, alleged that their wards were being ignored for no reason, it triggered heated argument between them and Mayor E. Bhuvaneshwari. The argument came to an end following the intervention of other councillors.
The meeting decided to acquire 26 cents of land on both sides of the narrow road connecting North Bypass Road with Madurai Road near Ram Theatre to make its width 18 feet as this stretch is being used by hundreds of vehicles, including lorries, every day.