Tambaram Corporation speeds up work on water treatment plants being set up in abandoned quarries

The three facilities, falling under the Water Augmentation Project, will become operational by the first week of June, says official; they will have a combined capacity of 5 MLD and will be installed in Moovarasampet and Tirusulam

The Tambaram Corporation is on mission mode to commission the piped drinking water project utilising abandoned quarries, whose huge stores of water have remained untapped for years. The Water Augmentation Project is being sped up by the civic body, so it can start supplying water to the identified localities by the end of May.

The Water Augmentation Project, which involves the establishment of three plants with a total capacity of 5 million litres per day (MLD), was envisaged in the financial year 2020-21 and was to be executed at a cost of ₹12.5 crore. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Assembly election in the State delayed the implementation. But, with the formation of the new Tambaram Corporation, the officials are working overtime to complete it and start supplying drinking water, as part of which, the trial run is being carried out at two plants.

R. Alagu Meena, Commissioner, Tambaram Corporation, said the project would involve the installation of pumps, reverse osmosis plants and supply pipelines in three abandoned quarries. While the quarry at Kacheri Malai in Moovarasampet has a plant with a capacity of 2 MLD, the quarries of Tirusulam have two plants with capacities of 2.5 MLD and 1.5 MLD. The civic body has completed the commissioning of the plant at Moovarasampet and the 1.5-MLD plant at one of the two quarries in Tirusulam.

The Kacheri Malai plant will supply water to localities surrounding Moovarasampet, and the two plants in Tirusulam, with their total capacity of 4 MLD, will service several areas located near the quarries, including a portion of the Tirusulam Municipality, under whose jurisdiction they fall.

A senior official of the Tambaram Corporation said trial run had already begun at the two commissioned plants. For the 2.5-MLD plant at Tirusulam, civil and mechanical works for the construction of sump, pump room and installation of the motor have been completed. However, the installation of pipelines is still pending. All the three plants will become operational by the first week of June, the official added.