Digging of roads for civic works in Vellore during monsoon banned

VELLORE

As northeast monsoon has set in, the Vellore Corporation has asked private contractors executing civic works, especially the underground drainage, not to dig up streets and roads for the next two months.

The decision is aimed at preventing any hardship to residents. At present, the drainage project is being executed in key neighbourhoods, including Kalinjur near Katpadi, Bhavani Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, E.B. Colony, Nehru Nagar, Thirunagar and Arupumedu. The work has neared the final stage.

“We have asked the contractors not to dig up major roads and streets during the monsoon as it will result in waterlogging and prevent people from using them,” Corporation Commissioner P. Ashok Kumar said.

Along with Mayor Sujatha Anandakumar, the Commissioner and a team of civic officials, Collector P. Kumaravel Pandian inspected various stretches where the drainage and other civic projects are being implemented. The underground drainage project, which started in 2019 (Phase-II), comprises main sewer lines, pumping and lifting stations and sewage treatment plants, covering all 60 wards that have around eight lakh residents.

Divided into four phases, the project, which costs around ₹1,000 crore, covers 750 km of sewer lines, 16 pumping and lifting stations and two large sewage treatment plants. In the first phase, sewer lines, a pumping station and a sewage treatment plant were built for wards 1-10. Now, Phase-II and III are under way at a cost of ₹600 crore, with sewer lines being laid to 500 km.

Since January this year, The Corporation has relaid 145 km of the total of 171 km of roads where the drainage work was executed. In other words, over 800 of the total of 937 roads have been topped with either bitumen or concrete.