UGD projects in Tiruchi likely to be over by February

Tiruchi Corporation's UGD project in final stages, expected to be completed in two months, covering 80% of city.

With the ongoing underground drainage (UGD) scheme works progressing well, the pending works are expected to be completed within the next two months.

Tiruchi Corporation is implementing the underground drainage project in 45 wards in three different phases—Phase II, Phase III, and the Smart Cities Mission. Phase II began in 2018 at an estimate of ₹344 crore, while Phase III work commenced in 2019 at a cost of ₹366 crore under the AMRUT scheme.

Work is under way at Karumandapam, K. K. Nagar, Crawford, Edamalaipatti Pudur and Tiruverumbur, among other areas. The projects, which are intended to cover at least 80% of the city under the UGD network, were slated to be completed by November 2024, as the Corporation missed multiple deadlines earlier.

According to official sources, the pipeline-laying work under Phase III and the Smart City projects are in the final stages, with only around 13 km left and is expected to be completed within two months.

Similarly, work to provide household connections is also progressing well. Out of 1,11,564 house service connections, the civic body has around 12,000 connections pending under Phase III and the Smart City projects. The UGD work under Phase II and the process of providing house service connections in the phase has been completed.

The UGD work in the interior residential areas is yet to be completed. The presence of boulders and the ongoing monsoon season has been affecting the progress of the work.

Meanwhile, the civic body aims to relay the damaged roads soon. Out of the 746 km dug-up roads, only around 35 km are pending. “UGD work is progressing well, and the work is being monitored. Household connections are being provided, and road relaying work will be expedited. We expect to complete all the pending works by February,” said a senior Corporation official.