The Railways has given its consent for laying a pipeline for carrying sewer under its railway tracks at Jakkampudi near here. But the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation is clueless as to how to go about funding the project.
The Railways has asked the corporation to pay Rs. 6.5 crore towards according permission. The VMC has put the cost of laying the pipeline at Rs. 6 crore. So, the cost of construction and railway fee would take the total expenditure to more than Rs. 12 crore, sending the officials into a tizzy. The corporation officials have been running from pillar to post to get the permission from the Railways ever since the STP works began.
The railway fee is more than what the corporation would incur for laying the pipeline that would carry the sewer from One Town to a sewerage treatment plant being constructed at Jakkampudi. The STP would also cater to the needs of a housing complex constructed under the JNNURM for the shelterless, officials say.
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The corporation has asked the Railways to have a re-look into the matter as it has constructed the houses for the poor.
Railway officials, however, said that the fee cannot be negotiated as it was calculated based on the laid down procedure and approved by the Railway Board.
The VMC has constructed 8,800 houses under the JNNURM to rehabilitate people living in vulnerable places like road margins, canal bunds, and riverbed. The sewer generated from the Jakampudi housing complex has no other outlet unless the STP is constructed. The sewer would have to be let into the Budameru without treating it.
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The corporation, likewise, has planned to treat the sewerage generated in One Town to treat at the STP. The corporation is constructing two STPs with a capacity of 20 MLD each at Jakkampudi; while one is nearing completion, only 15 per cent of works on second STP were completed.