Expanded sewer lines can take a year to become fully operational in city

Although work on phase II of underground drainage scheme is nearing completion, it can still take a year for the Tiruchi Corporation to make it fully operational. The project was launched about six years ago.

The Tiruchi City Corporation, under three different phases — Phase II, Phase III, and the revamping — is implementing the UGD project in 45 wards under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme and Smart City Mission.

The three phases were launched between July 2018 and July 2021 and supposed to be completed within four years from the date the work order was issued. Even after revising multiple deadlines, the projects faced delays.

Shortage of manpower during the COVID-19 pandemic, cost escalation, funds crunch, and delay over mandatory clearances from a few departments for laying sewer lines across major roads were cited as reasons for poor progress.

At present, around 35% of the city is covered by the underground drainage network. Once Phases II and III become operational, the coverage will increase to 75% of the city. Of the 758.2 km of pipeline installation work, only about 5.4 km is pending across all phases. Of the 62.73 km of pumping mains, in all three phases, around 51.48 km has been completed with only 11.2 km pending. Delays in shifting EB poles and the presence of heavy boulders are said to affect the progress.

The Corporation has completed 98,832 house service connections (HSC) out of 1,03,957 across all phases. Phase III has 475 pending HSCs while the UGD revamping projects have 4,650 pending HSCs. Work on providing HSCs in Phase II has been completed.

According to officials, Phase II has been partially commissioned and around 4,000 connections were provided in the first phase. A trial run of a sewage treatment plant with a capacity to handle 37 million litres a day at Keezha Kalkandarkottai has been completed.

There are six sub-pumping stations in the Phase II of UGD and all work have been completed. “EB connections for three sub-pumping stations have been provided and around 20 houses were connected on a trial basis. The sewers will be cleaned of rainwater and gravel before commissioning,” said V. Saravanan, Corporation Commissioner.

Officials said deposits would be collected from the residents and commercial properties to avail UGD connections and the civic body was planning to provide instalment options for deposits.

“Connections will be gradually increased and Phase III will be partially commissioned in March. We expect to fully commission all the phases, including Phase IV by December 2026,” Mr. Saravanan said.

Similarly, Phase IV covers the peripheral areas in the city under the AMRUT 2.0 scheme at a cost of ₹230.61 crore. Eight wards in zones III, IV, and V have been included in the project. Underground sewer lines would be laid for a distance of about 143 km under the scheme to provide 16,500 house connections under this phase. The pumping mains will run for a distance of about 35.61 km. Nine pumping stations would be built.