CHENNAI: Chief minister C Joseph Vijay on Wednesday announced an over Rs 11,000-crore urban infrastructure push covering water supply, sewerage, roads, waste management, parks and heritage areas, as the government outlined its plan to prepare Tamil Nadu cities for rapid population growth and urbanisation.Making a series of announcements in the Assembly under Rule 110, Vijay said the focus would be on building cleaner, safer and more sustainable cities while addressing long-pending infrastructure gaps.The biggest announcement was a Rs 4,800-crore, 400 MLD desalination plant at Minjur to meet the drinking water needs of North Chennai, Avadi, Ponneri and Minjur. The government also announced a Rs 500-crore project to provide round-the-clock drinking water supply in Avadi.Another Rs 1,000 crore has been earmarked to upgrade water infrastructure in Madurai, Cuddalore, nine municipalities and 20 town panchayats. The government will spend Rs 300 crore to restore 33 combined water supply schemes and Rs 410 crore to expand Chennai’s Kilpauk Water Treatment Plant.Madurai’s four-decade-old underground sewerage network will undergo a Rs 2,400-crore Phase I revamp. Sewerage projects worth Rs 960 crore will be taken up in Nagercoil, Kundrathur and Nandivaram-Guduvanchery, while Rs 236 crore has been allocated for projects in Perambur, Kolathur, Villivakkam and Egmore in Chennai.Under the Vetri Tamilagam Vision, the government has earmarked Rs 275 crore for urban mobility. Chennai will receive Rs 110 crore for 35 km of redesigned streets, 15 km of safe school access corridors and improvements at 105 traffic junctions. Another Rs 165 crore will be spent on similar projects in other corporations.The government also announced Rs 1,850 crore for relaying roads damaged during utility works.Other projects include Rs 547 crore for waste-to-energy plants in Tirunelveli and Salem, Rs 305 crore for planting one crore saplings and developing 250 new parks, Rs 335 crore for improving amenities in local body schools, and Rs 94 crore for underground utility works and heritage-area improvements in Chidambaram, Cuddalore and Kanyakumari.
