Kurichi Municipality eagerly waits for March 2008

Kurichi Municipality eagerly waits for March 2008 – the deadline fixed for the completion of the Aliyar drinking water scheme for Kurichi and Kuniamuthur municipalities and the Kinathukadavu Town Panchayat.From the current supply of drinking water once in six or eight days to a population of more than 1.25 lakh in Kurichi, the municipality looks to provide it at least once in two days when the scheme is completed.

The scheme is on course, says Municipal Chairman N. Prabhakaran.The main supply line has been laid over a distance of 12 km from Aliyar to Pollachi. Work on the balance 35 km till Kurichi is in progress, he says. Lines for internal distribution are also being laid. The municipality will lay 83 km of lines in all the streets, he says.Works are on to construct a sump with seven-lakh litre capacity and also three of the seven overhead tanks planned within the municipal limits.The Rs.35.47 crore scheme will provide 15 million litres a day (mld) to all the three local bodies.Kurichi will get 7.7 million litres, Kuniamuthur 5.7 mld and Kinathukadavu nine lakh litres. “Our share of the cost is Rs.19.2 crore,” says Mr. Prabhakaran.The Government will provide a grant of Rs.6.9 crore, the municipality will spend Rs.5.7 crore and obtain loan of Rs.6.6 crore.

Though the scheme envisages a comfortable supply of drinking water to a population of 1.16 lakh till 2010, the fact is that the population is already above 1.25 lakh, points out Mr. Prabhakaran.The Chairman is hopeful of retaining the current quota of 53 mld of Siruvani water.“We cannot manage with the Aliyar scheme quota alone,” he says.“We have also requested the authorities to include our municipality in the Pilloor Phase II scheme also. This is because we will need more water in the years to come, going by the rate at which population is increasing.” Of the more than 1.25 lakh population, 10 per cent to 15 per cent have come in over the last two to three years, he says.With the Central Government including the local bodies in the suburbs in the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, Kurichi wants to be included under the Pilloor water scheme.The project envisages a supply of 125 mld, with more than 60 mld of it for the Coimbatore Corporation. The Kurichi Municipality wants a share out of the rest. “Otherwise, we cannot meet the demand from a steadily rising population,” warns Mr. Prabhakaran.

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