Work to lay pipelines to provide regular piped water supply to households in Vettavalam and Pudupalayam towns in Tiruvannamalai district commenced on Tuesday.
Accompanied by Tiruvallur Collector B. Murugesh, Minister for Highways and PWD E.V. Velu laid the foundation stone for the project, which is executed under AMRUT-2, the second phase of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) programme. “The new piped water supply will be provided to households in the added areas in these town panchayats. The work will be completed by mid-2024,” R. Manimaran, Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE), Directorate of Town Panchayats (Tiruvannamalai), said.
The Pudupalayam town panchayat in Chengam taluk has 1,131 household water connections, covering its 12 wards under the Sathanur Combined Water Supply Scheme. A total of 0.716 million litres per day (MLD) of water has been provided under the scheme for residents for many years. Due to the addition of areas a few years ago, the population of the town has now become 13,094 people. As a result, an additional 1,000 household connections required a piped water supply. The new water supply scheme under AMRUT-2 will provide water to the additional households in the town at an average of 70 litres per capita per day (LPCD) for each individual. As per the estimate, three open wells (18 metres deep each), two overhead tanks (two lakh litres each), and one sump (one lakh litres capacity) will be built at a cost of ₹10.88 crore.
Likewise, Vettavalam town in Tiruvannamalai taluk will get five new open wells (18 metres deep each) at a cost of ₹13.89 crore to provide water supply to over 1,500 new metered water connections. The total population of the town grew to 17,328 people. Earlier, the two town panchayats supplied piped water mainly through the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD Board). Under AMRUT-2, the Directorate of Town Panchayats will provide water to consumers.
Panchayat officials said of the 10 town panchayats in the district, only Kannamangalam town panchayat has household water connections that were provided at a cost of ₹2.77 crore a few years ago. A detailed project report (DPR) on a similar piped water supply for Kalambur town panchayat is being made.
On the occasion, K. Pitchandi, Deputy Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, and C. Hamsa, Additional Director of Town Panchayats (Vellore Zone), participated.
