TN to expand Chennai Corporation

The Tamil Nadu government is planning to expand Chennai Corporation and 15 other urban local bodies. It would require around Rs 20,000 crore in next five years to improve the core infrastructure including water supply, underground sewerage scheme, solid waste management, storm water drain and road in these areas.

The urban population in the state is set to rise to 67 per cent in 2030, according to a report by McKinsey Global Institute. According to the 2001 census, the urban population of Tamil Nadu is 44 per cent.

In a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently, state chief minister J Jayalalithaa requested the Centre to allocate Rs 20,000 crore for the purpose, along with an early launch of Phase II of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

Despite various efforts by the government to exploit both ground and surface water for supply in urban areas, the demand-supply gap in Chennai city alone at present is estimated at 400 million litre a day. The seawater desalination project and revamp of existing water supply schemes require around Rs 9,500 crore.

Further, the state requires Rs 5,700 crore to renovate 18,000 km of road out of the total urban road network of 39,500 km, along with making the roads in Chennai Corporation world-class. Around Rs 3,000 crore is required to develop scientific landfills to manage solid waste. While 40 towns has underground sewer network, the state need Rs 1,100 crore to expand it to new urban local bodies, the government said.