Munusamy inspects head works on the banks of the Cauvery
The trial run of the water pumping from the headwork of the Hogenakkal Drinking Water and Fluorosis Mitigation Project will begin in October this year, said K.P. Munusamy, Minister for Municipal Administration and Rural Development, here on Friday.
Speaking to The Hindu after inspecting the head works on the banks of the River Cauvery, Mr. Munusamy said that the trial run would take place in October and the project to meet the drinking water needs of the people in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts would go on stream before the end of December this year. Subsequently, the treated water from the water treatment plant at Yaanaipallam to the Master Balancing Reservoir at Madam would take place. “The storage capacity of the Master Balancing Reservoir is 160 million litres.”
“As announced, the government is keen to inaugurate the scheme before December. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa will inaugurate the scheme,” he added.
The project work was awarded as five packages to different firms. So far, 62 per cent of the work had been completed. Officials had been asked to speed up the remaining work.
The Minister said that 68 per cent of the works under package II, 54 per cent in package III, 60 per cent under package IV and 63 per cent of the works under the package V were completed.
People living in three municipalities, 17 town panchayats, and 6,755 rural habitations in 18 panchayat unions would benefit.
The project was envisaged to provide protected drinking water to the people of Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts and also to mitigate the effects of the fluorosis disease in the districts.
After the inauguration of the project, it would take at least six months to streamline the supply, said P. Ekambaram, Managing Director of TWAD Board, who was accompanying the Minister during the inspection, said.
The Rs. 1928.80-crore project is being implemented with the financial assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency. P. Palaniappan, Minister for Higher Education, K.P. Anbazhagan, Palacode MLA, K. Agilan, Director (Engineering), TWAD Board, J.D. Gopal Rao, Chief Engineer, A. Pradhaban, Superintending Engineer, among others accompanied the Ministers.
Later, both the Ministers’ reviewed the progress of the project at the Krishnagiri Collectorate in the evening.
