Chennai: Chief minister C Joseph Vijay on Wednesday announced a ₹11,000 crore urban infrastructure push, covering water supply, sewerage, roads, waste management, parks and heritage areas. The biggest announcement was a ₹4,800 crore, 400mld desalination plant at Minjur to meet the drinking water needs of North Chennai, Avadi, Ponneri and Minjur.This will be the fifth desalination plant for Chennai. While the 400mld Perur plant is under construction, the city has desalination facilities at Minjur (100mld, currently non-operational) and Nemmeli (110mld and 150mld).Govt also announced a ₹500 crore project to provide round-the-clock drinking water supply in Avadi. Another ₹1,000 crore has been earmarked to upgrade water infrastructure in Madurai, Cuddalore, nine municipalities and 20 town panchayats. “The state govt will spend ₹300 crore to restore 33 combined water supply schemes and ₹410 crore to expand the Kilpauk water treatment plant in the city,” Vijay said.Madurai’s four-decade-old underground sewerage network will undergo a ₹2,400 crore Phase I revamp. Sewerage projects worth ₹960 crore will be taken up in Nagercoil, Kundrathur and Nandivaram-Guduvanchery, while ₹236 crore has been allocated for projects at Perambur, Kolathur, Villivakkam and Egmore in Chennai.“The focus would be on building cleaner, safer and sustainable cities while addressing long-pending infrastructure gaps,” Vijay said while making the announcements in the state assembly under Rule 110.The chief minister also announced projects to develop infrastructure and basic amenities for a safe school zone and a pedestrian-friendly environment in the state capital under ‘Vetri Tamilagam Vision’ and said that govt earmarked ₹275 crore for an integrated urban development scheme. Chennai will receive ₹110 crore for 35km of redesigned streets, 15km of safe school access corridors and improvements at 105 traffic junctions. Another ₹165 crore will be spent on similar projects in other corporations. “These projects aimed at people-friendly modern streets and ensure the safety of students,” he said.Relaying roads damaged during utility work in Chennai and other urban local bodies across the state would be taken up at ₹1,850 crore, said Vijay. PMK, Congress and the Left parties thanked CM for the announcements.
