Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Thiru C. Joseph Vijay on Wednesday announced a ₹4,800-crore desalination plant at Minjur with a capacity to produce 400 million litres of drinking water a day, aimed at meeting the growing water requirements of North Chennai, Avadi, Ponneri and Minjur.
The announcement was made in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly under Rule 110 as part of a series of measures proposed by the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department.
According to the official statement issued by the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), the proposed Minjur facility will desalinate 400 million litres of seawater per day and is estimated to cost ₹4,800 crores. The project is intended to strengthen drinking-water availability in North Chennai and the neighbouring urban areas of Avadi, Ponneri and Minjur.
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₹500 crore 24-hour water supply project for Avadi
The Chief Minister also announced a new ₹500-crore project in Avadi Municipal Corporation to provide drinking water to all households on a 24-hour basis. In addition, the government has proposed ₹1,000 crore to improve drinking-water facilities in the Madurai and Cuddalore municipal corporations, nine municipalities and 20 town panchayats.
A further ₹300 crore will be provided in the first phase to renovate 33 ageing combined drinking-water supply schemes, while ₹410 crore has been proposed to augment the capacity of the Chennai Kilpauk Water Treatment Plant.
Sewerage projects worth thousands of crores
The announcements also cover major sewerage infrastructure projects. The government will undertake the first phase of works to renovate the 40-year-old underground sewerage system in Madurai Municipal Corporation at an estimated cost of ₹2,400 crore.
New underground sewerage schemes costing ₹960 crore will be implemented in uncovered and newly added areas of Nagercoil Municipal Corporation, as well as in Kundrathur and Nandivaram-Guduvanchery municipalities. Another ₹236 crore will be spent on improving drinking-water and sewerage systems in parts of Chennai, including Perambur, Kolathur, Villivakkam and Egmore.
Waste-to-energy projects in Tirunelveli and Salem
The government also announced waste-to-energy projects in Tirunelveli and Salem. The Tirunelveli Municipal Corporation project is estimated to cost ₹256 crore and will have a power-generation capacity of 9 MW, while the Salem project will cost about ₹291 crore and generate 10 MW. The combined estimated cost of the two waste-to-energy projects is ₹547 crore.
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₹1,850 crore for urban road works
Road restoration and construction works will be taken up across urban local bodies, including Chennai at an estimated cost of ₹1,850 crore. The works are intended, among other things, to repair roads damaged during drinking-water and underground sewerage works and to construct new roads.
Under the Vettri Thamizhagam Vision Plan, the Greater Chennai Corporation will also undertake projects covering 35 km of people-friendly modern streets, 15 km of safe access routes around schools and improvements to 105 traffic islands, with an estimated cost of ₹110 crore.
Similar projects in other municipal corporations will cost ₹165 crore, taking the combined estimated cost of the integrated urban development works to ₹275 crore.
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One crore saplings and 250 new parks
As part of its urban greening programme, the government plans to plant and maintain one crore saplings across the State. Large parks will be developed in Tiruchirappalli, Tiruppur and Pudukkottai districts at a cost of ₹130 crore, while 250 new parks will be established across Tamil Nadu at an estimated cost of ₹175 crore. The combined expenditure on these park projects is estimated at ₹305 crore.
The announcements also include ₹335 crore for infrastructure improvements in schools under urban local bodies. The Minjur desalination plant and the other projects were included in a broader set of urban infrastructure measures announced by the Chief Minister in the Assembly on Wednesday.
Source: Tamil Nadu Directorate of Information and Public Relations, TNLA No.18 – Chief Minister’s Rule 110 statement
