Stormwater works to resume

Drain projects in Cooum and Buckingham watersheds were earlier shelved

Stormwater drains work in the Cooum and central Buckingham watersheds, which were earlier shelved, will soon resume in full swing.

In a bid to complete all stormwater drains by March 31 next year, the Chennai Corporation has revoked its earlier order terminating the contract for construction of the drains. The Corporation council on Friday passed a resolution in this regard.

Of the 98 works in the Cooum watershed, 52 works that were terminated citing slow progress made by the contractor are likely to resume shortly. The original deadline for completion of the facilities was October 28, 2010. The contract was terminated at a time when the contractor had completed only 35 percent of the works.

Work on key stretches such as Nelson Manickam Road, Anna Salai, Poonamallee High Road, Arunachalam Street, Anna Nagar Second Avenue, Gandhi Irwin Road, Egmore High Road, Mayor Ramanathan Salai, Casa Major Road, Raja Annamalai Salai, Kodambakkam High Road, Swami Sivananda Salai, Sterling Road and Ayya Mudali Street that drain stormwater into Cooum River will now meet the extended deadline.

The Corporation has warned contractors of ‘inclusion on the black-list’ if the work is not completed on time.

The civic body has also decided to borrow a loan of Rs. 203.72 crore through TUFIDCO (Tamil Nadu Urban Finance & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited). The civic body will incur an expenditure of Rs. 407.44 crore for the project, being implemented at an estimated cost of Rs. 1447.91 crore.

The civic body had extended the deadline for the JNNURM-funded stormwater drain work a number of times in the city. A few months ago, it extended the deadline for the works in many other watersheds, citing reasons such as the monsoon, sand scarcity, traffic restrictions by police and hindrance caused due to shifting of utilities. Opposition by residents along canals to biometric survey was another reason for the delay in the completion of the work in some neighbourhoods.

Works on watersheds such as Kolathur, Royapuram, Virugambakkam, Arumbakkam, Velachery and North Buckingham Canal are underway.