The Tamil Nadu Water Supplies and Drainage Board (TWAD) is likely to complete the Pillur-III drinking water project to bring additional water to the tune of 178 million litres per day (MLD) to the newly-added areas of the city corporation by May this year.
TWAD managing director V Dakshinamoorthy and city corporation commissioner M Prathap jointly took stock of the project work at various places in the district recently.
An official with the corporation’s engineering wing said the Rs 779.86-crore project was sanctioned in May 2018. The construction work subsequently commenced in March 2021. The pumping station, which comprises a reservoir, for the project is located downstream of Pillur dam near Samayapuram EB Barrage-I (upstream of Murgaiyan Parisal Thurai in Bhavani).
The project entails laying a pipeline for around 90.76km to bring water to the city from the reservoir. Other components of the project include a water treatment plant and a giant tunnel to bring the water across Kattanmalai. The official, who didn’t want to be named, said 91% of the water treatment plant work had been completed. “The remaining work is expected to be completed in March. The construction of the tunnel is expected to be completed next month, as 98% of the work is already over.”