The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Ambattur drainage project is a go

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 04, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Ambattur drainage project is a go

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, OCT. 3. The long pending underground drainage project for 19 wards in Ambattur is expected to begin in two months.

The Rs. 40-crore project was approved four years ago but it remained a non-starter much to the distress of residents, who faced the risk of ground water contamination and consequent health problems, as sewage from the housing colonies were discharged into the nearby lakes.

Councillors received the announcement with cheers when the resolution regarding the tender approved by the World Bank was read out at the municipal council meeting on Friday.

However, DMK councillor, S. Balakumaran, raised questions about the approval of the tender in favour of the Hyderabad-based Nagarjuna Construction company which, he said, had presented an estimate which was 19.62 per cent higher than the municipality's figures. Municipal chairman, K. Rukmangadan, said the local body had no role in the decision.

A tender committee, including officials from the Municipal Administration and Water Supply, had checked it.

Work would commence after the completion of formalities such as issuance of work order and survey, he said. Wards 22 and 49 councillors said they wanted their wards to be included in the scheme, which the chairman promised to consider.

Cancellation

Another resolution, which led to heated arguments between the councillors and the chairman, was the cancellation of work orders of those companies that had development works pending for about two years. While ward 23 councillor, S. Vedachalam, alleged that the local body did not follow the procedures such as issuance of cancellation notices, ward 6 councillor, S. Anandan, demanded the cancellation of tenders of all those who had not taken up works in the past three years. The chairman said tenders given to those companies would be cancelled and other tenders cited as non-starters would be looked into.

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