COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation has proposed approximately 10 key development projects to utilise the Rs 3,500 crore grant which it is eligible to receive under the special infrastructure component recommended by the 16th Central Finance Commission.Corporation commissioner Katta Ravi Teja said the latest major proposal of a Rs 824cr underground drainage (UGD) project for Kalapatti, Vilankurichi and parts of Saravanampatti is among the projects listed under this scheme. The DPR has been submitted to the Directorate of Municipal Administration for approval. The project will cover wards 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 21, 22 and 23, with the beneficiary population projected at 1.30 lakh by 2030.A key environmental component is the Noyyal riverfront rejuvenation project, for which the corporation secured administrative sanction of Rs 202.5 crore. The first phase covers a 4.3km stretch between Nanjundapuram and Athupalam. Nearly Rs 100 crore has been earmarked for three sewage treatment plants (STPs) to prevent sewage from entering the river through identified inlet points.The commissioner said, “Since these are completely wastewater-treatment components, the STPs to be set up for the Noyyal rejuvenation project have also been proposed to be carried out under these grants.”“We have plans to extend and improve the UGSS (underground sewerage scheme) for which we plan to propose a new project for the left-out areas of Ukkadam and connect them with the Ukkadam STP. Some of the older pipelines in the surrounding areas can also be considered for replacement since they often report clogging and damage. Similarly, the pipelines laid for the Najundapuram STP are more than 50 years old, and we plan to replace those pipelines and extend the project to the added areas,” he said.Highlighting the need to upgrade the capacity of the STPs at seven smart city lakes, the commissioner said, “We’ll prepare a futuristic report after conducting a study and will propose establishing STPs under these grants. We shall rope in a private consultancy that will study the current situation, assess the future flow and the required capacity based on which the estimates will be prepared.”The funding for these projects will be shared, with the central govt contributing 60% and the remaining 40% provided by the state and the city corporation.
