CM Vijay to lay foundation stone for Rs 3,108 crore Chennai water pipeline project today
Chennai, Oct 14 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay will lay the foundation stone for a Rs 3,108.55 crore ring main pipeline project at Sholinganallur on Wednesday, aimed at strengthening Chennai’s drinking water supply network and enabling water to be redirected between supply zones during shortages.
The project will connect nine drinking water sources through a 98-kilometre network of iron pipelines. These include the Poondi, Puzhal, Cholavaram and Chembarambakkam reservoirs, along with seawater desalination plants that contribute to the city’s drinking water requirements.
By linking these sources through a common network, the scheme seeks to address a major limitation in the existing distribution system: the inability to readily move surplus water from one supply system to areas dependent on another source facing a shortage.
The Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board currently supplies around 1,200 million litres of drinking water daily to the city. Water from individual supply facilities reaches different neighbourhoods through dedicated main pipelines designed for their respective distribution areas.
However, these separate arrangements restrict flexibility when a particular source runs short of water. Even if another facility has surplus supplies, the existing infrastructure does not allow that water to be easily diverted to meet demand in the affected areas.
The proposed ring main will provide interconnections between the sources, creating a network through which supplies can be redistributed in accordance with the availability and requirements. This is intended to help the water board maintain a more consistent supply across Chennai during periods of uneven water availability.
The scheme was planned by the previous DMK administration at an estimated cost of Rs 3,108.55 crore to overcome shortcomings in Greater Chennai’s drinking water infrastructure.
Wednesday’s foundation stone ceremony will mark the next step in taking the proposal forward under the present government.
The project’s significance lies in making the city’s existing water sources function as an interconnected system. Reservoirs and desalination facilities currently serve different parts of Chennai through separately designed pipelines, leaving limited scope for adjustments when supplies from one source decline.
Once implemented, the ring main is expected to give the water board greater operational flexibility in managing these supplies.
The interlinked network will allow available water to be directed towards areas facing shortages, supporting the broader objective of ensuring smoother and more reliable drinking water distribution across the city’s various supply zones.
–IANS
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