Damaged roads in Chennai and other urban local bodies of the State will be relaid at an estimated cost of ₹1,000 crore, said Municipal Administration Minister S.P.Velumani in the Assembly on Monday.
Announcing civic projects for local bodies across the State, he said in addition to 387 km of bus routes and 5,525 km of interior roads in Chennai, a total length of 23,464 km of roads was being maintained by 14 other corporations and 121 municipalities in the State.
Smart roads including footpaths, ducts, medians, cycle tracks, parking and lighting are being implemented in 10 corporations. In the last eight years, 6,083 km of roads had been damaged because of natural calamities, water supply schemes and sewage network projects.
“Restoration work has been taken up at an estimated cost of ₹3,050 crore. Of 5,310 works taken up, 4,947 had been completed at a cost of ₹2,560 crore in the local bodies in the State,” said Mr.Velumani.
Sewer network
“We will complete five underground sewer network projects by March 2020 at an estimated cost of ₹1,123 crore,” said Mr.Velumani.
A total of 14 underground sewer network projects have been completed at an estimated cost of ₹500 crore. Work on development of sewer network in cities such as Tiruchirapalli, Vellore, Tirunelveli, Tiruppur and Coimbatore have been taken up.
Of the 7.65 lakh households in the urban areas, 6.10 lakh households have received service connections following the underground sewage network projects in the local bodies concerned.
To promote solid waste management, the State government will sign an MoU with the National Thermal Power Corporation to generate power from waste in urban areas. A total of 15 corporations, including Chennai, and 121 municipalities generate 7,011 tonnes of biodegradable waste and 6,733 tonnes of non-biodegradable waste every day.
“A special cell for waste management will be formed in all local bodies. We will adopt appropriate technology suitable for local conditions of each city,” the Minister said.
Detailed project reports will be prepared for preventing pollution of rivers such as Cauvery, Bhavani, Thamiraparani, Thirumanimutharu, Sarabanga, Vashista, Palar, Arjuna, Vaipar, Thenpennai and Gadilam in urban areas of Salem, Pallipalayam, Kulithalai, Kumarapalayam, Ambasamudhram, Vikramasingapuram, Edappadi, Athur, Narasingapuram, Sivakasi, Thiruthangal, Cuddalore, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur.
