The Coimbatore Smart City Limited, the special purpose vehicle overseeing the implementation of projects under the Smart Cities Mission, has widened the area where it will implement projects under the ‘Area Based Development’ component of the Mission.
According to sources in the Coimbatore Corporation, the Coimbatore Smart City Limited Board has decided to widen the area by including four wards at its meeting held in Chennai on Monday.
The inclusion of Wards 72, 86, 95 and 99 would take the total number of wards covered under ‘Area Based Development’ to 26.
The sources said that this would help the company implement the project to convey the treated water from the Ukkadam Sewage Treatment Plant to the Corporation's dump yard in Vellalore. The Corporation would use the treated water either in Vellalore or sell it to people. The four wards selected were more or less contiguous and would enable laying a pipeline from the treatment plant to the dump yard. It would also help the Corporation take up projects to improve the dump yard and also manage the accumulated waste there.
The Board also approved a proposal to buy seven machines at ₹ 2.88 crore to clean roads and be used in conservancy work and invest another ₹ 19.50 crore to rebuild the hockey ground in the R.S. Puram Boys School.
Officials familiar with the development, however, said the Board agreed to increase the number of wards so that it did not face audit objections for having invested money in Vellalore. If those areas were outside the Area Based Development region, then the audit agency could flag the issue, to avoid which decision was taken.
