Rs 100 cr initiative to harvest 1 TMC more in city

Speaking in the Assembly, Velumani said, “Nearly 114 water bodies in Chennai city will be desilted and refurbished at the cost of Rs 100 crore. By desilting and refurbishing the water bodies groundwater level would be increased and Chennai will get an additional 1 TMC ground water.”

He also said that Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is taking steps to raise groundwater level in Chennai by rejuvenating water bodies which includes desilting of 52 water bodies at a cost of Rs 18.2 crore and desilting the 25 acre Villivakkam tank at a cost of Rs 16 crore.

He also announced in the Assembly that GCC will setup 2,000 rainwater harvesting wells in Chennai at the cost of Rs 12.52 crore to increase ground water level. GCC will also carry out a detailed inspection on the works to replace the damaged pipelines, to identify the leak in the supply and to repair it and to fix meters to ensure all the areas get adequate supply of water, at the cost of Rs 5.31 crore.

He further announced that government will setup two additional 15 Million Litres per Day (MLD) Reverse Osmosis plants at Koyambedu and Kodungaiyur to cater the water needs of industries, at the cost of Rs 120 crore. “Already two 45 MLD capacity Tertiary Treatment Reverse Osmosis (TTRO) plants are under progress at Koyambedu and Kodungaiyur to cater the water needs of industries and now as there is additional water requirement for the industries, the capacity of both the TTRO plants would be increased by 15 MLD in each of the two plants,” said Velumani.

He went on to announce that in the vacant lands attached to Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board solar panels would be setup and solar energy would be used to treat and supply water. Rs 500 crore of electricity bill per year will be saved by this project, said Velumani.