The Tamil Nadu government has given the administrative sanction for the Mullaperiyar drinking water project on Saturday, said Corporation Commissioner S. Aneesh Sekhar here on Monday.
The Detailed Project Reports had been approved. By implementing the project costing ₹1,200 crore, it had been planned to supply 125 million litres per day (MLD) from the Lower Camp hydroelectric power station to Madurai city through a 143-km pipeline, he said.
The project would serve the drinking water needs of 20 lakh people by providing them about 135 litres per capita per day (LPCD). Currently, the city residents received 105-120 lpcd.
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Mr. Sekhar said the drinking water project was in the process of being technically vetted by the multilateral funding agency, Asian Development Bank (ADB).
A source from the Corporation said that the ADB would fund 30-33% of the project.
The rest of the funds would be routed through the Central government’s Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme.
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The Tamil Nadu government would also contribute a sizeable sum through Tamil Nadu Urban Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation (TUFIDCO), the State’s nodal agency for implementing government programmes or schemes.
“Currently, the tender documents are being prepared. As soon as we get approval from the ADB, we will float the tenders,” the Commissioner said.
Ever since Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisamy announced the project in July 2017, consultants and experts from TUFIDCO and the Commissionerate of Municipal Administration visited the site.
According to a senior engineer, the project will use gravity to transport water from Lower Camp to a new 130 MLD treatment plant in Pannaipatti.
Water from the treatment plant would be transported through pipeline to 56 overhead tanks and then to households.
The estimated time of completion of the project was 24 months from the starting day of the project, a senior official said.