The Tiruchirapalli City Corporation has decided to hire a consultant to design and prepare detailed project estimates for the proposed new drinking water scheme for the five wards that have been added to it recently.
The five new wards are spread over Tiruverumbur Town Panchayat, and Pappakurichi, Ellakudi, Keezha Kalkandarkottai, and Alathur panchayats, all in the eastern suburb of the city that have been merged with the Tiruchirapalli City Corporation following delimitation.
Although the areas are served by two combined drinking water schemes in Tiruverumbur area, the new water scheme is intended to increase the per capita water supply to the residents of the five wards to 135 litres a day in line with the norms of the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation of Union Urban Development Ministry.
At present, residents are getting about 70 to 100 litres a day but the supply is said to be unequal. The drinking water supply augmentation scheme under execution in the city at an investment of Rs. 221.42 crore with assistance from Japan International Cooperation Agency was designed prior to the merger of the civic bodies and would not cater to the five wards. The Department of Municipal Administration recently permitted the civic body to hire a consultant for the project.
While three agencies submitted bids for the tenders, the corporation has decided to hire WAPCOS Ltd., which is the consultant for the Rs. 221.42-crore drinking water augmentation scheme, for designing and preparing the detailed project report. The move was approved by the council at its recent meeting. According to corporation sources, the civic body would seek funds from the government or funding agencies for executing the project once the project report was ready.
