Chennai Corporation now eyes smart city projects

Chennai: After messing up the Chennai mega city mission, the cash starved Chennai Corporation is on a planning spree to execute  smart  city projects. The civic body is now breathing easy with funds coming from the Centre’s  Smart City project and the state’s desilting project. The civic body which had suspended the major infra projects until last year is now on a spree preparing detailed project reports to beautify water bodies, construct new storm water drains and develop parks in the retrieved encroached lands.

According to secretariat sources, T Nagar which has been selected under area-based development based on the citizen’s ideas and suggestions for the  smart  city project will have 40 components costing Rs 877.92 crore. Also under pan  city  initiative, eight infrastructure components have been identified at a cost of Rs 488.31 crore. These projects will be a jointly executed using funds obtained from the Centre, State and city corporation, sources said.

Meanwhile, the Greater Chennai Corporation had also prepared a detailed project report for Kosasthalaiyaru, Coovum, Adayar and Kovalam Basin for the length of 1069.40 Km of an integrated storm water drainage network at a project cost of Rs 4034.30 crore and this project is also to be taken up in a phased manner, sources added.

Under the first phase of the project, the restoration of Coovum and Adayar basin works is taken up and storm water drain works for a length of 280 kilometres at a project cost of Rs 1101.43 crore is in progress with world bank funding under Tamil Nadu Sustainable Urban Infrastructure Development Project (TNSUDP), sources said.

“As usual funding is never a problem for Chennai corporation, but the problem lies with the execution of infra projects. Hardly there are any inspections by the corporation officials carried out to check fraudulent contracts and I don’t remember the city corporation blacklisting any contractors in the recent times”, said social activist and Madras High Court advocate R Govindaraj.   

However, the irony is that the developments are happening in the wake of CAG blasting the Chennai corporation for poor planning and callousness in implementing the Chennai mega  city  mission project in which new drains were demolished and reconstructed at an estimate of Rs 54.33 crores.

Beautification of lakes

More than 10 major lakes in greater Chennai are to be beautified by the state using World Bank funds. The state through consultants has identified the lakes that are to be restored and works related to detailed project report is taken up for the neglected water bodies. Narayanapuram lake, Zamin Pallavaram Periya Eri, Kilkattalai lake, Avadi Paruthipattu lake, Velachery, Nanmangalam Lake, Kolathur lake, the wetlands in Kovilambakkam and Kadapakkam are to be beautified.