Work to lay new water pipelines between Sathanur dam and Tiruvannamalai town to provide 135 litres of water per capita per day (LPCD) for each individual household in Tiruvannamalai began on Thursday.
Accompanied by Collector D. Bhaskara Pandian, Minister for Public Works, Highways and Minor Ports E.V. Velu laid the foundation stone for the ₹55.49 crore project, which will be executed by Tiruvannamalai municipality, under Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme 2023-24. “The new ductile iron pipelines will have more durability especially against heavy vehicles like trucks and lorries on the route. Frequent pipe bursts will be avoided. New pipelines will be laid in six months,” M.R. Vasanthi, commissioner, Tiruvannamalai municipality, told The Hindu.
Municipal officials said the existing water pipelines were laid a few decades ago. Most pipelines, especially on the Tiruvannamalai-Aroor High Road, which is maintained by the State Highways, were damaged due to continuous movement of vehicles. It has resulted in frequent pipeline bursts on the route.
The immediate reason to lay new pipelines was due to the ongoing conversion of the existing two-lane Tiruvannamalai-Aroor High Road into a four-lane one. The existing pipelines were laid at the centre of the stretch. As a result, new water pipelines with more durability are being laid on the extreme end of the stretch to prevent any damage to it.
At present, Tiruvannamalai municipality consists of 39 wards with 1.67 lakh persons. It also maintains 6.2 km of the 14-km girivalam path. The combined water supply scheme has been executed by the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board. Water needs of the civic body are met from Ulagampattu village on the downstream of Sathanur dam through pipelines.
Against a demand of 22 MLD of water per day, the municipality was able to generate only 18 MLD for its 31,000 consumers. Transit loss due to frequent pipe bursts and depletion of water resources are the reasons for the gap between demand and supply. To bridge the gap, pipelines are being laid to a distance of 24 km from Sathanur dam to the town to ensure regular water supply to consumers.
