The Hindu        30.10.2014  

Pudukottai municipality draws up plan for drains

The Pudukottai municipality has drafted a plan to ensure proper maintenance and upkeep of drains built by the erstwhile ‘samasthanam’ in various parts of the town.

The clearing of the silt in the channels is aimed at preventing water-logging in the residential areas, according to municipal officials.

It would help control the mosquito menace in the town. Already, the municipality had executed work on dredging major tanks.

Of the 32 tanks, dredging had been completed on 28 tanks. Dredging on the tanks ensured maximum harvesting of the rainwater during the course of the northeast monsoon.

The town accounted for 60 km of drainage channels of which channels to a cumulative length of 58 km had been cleared of silt for ensuring free flow of flood water. The municipality had identified flood-prone areas based on the past three years’ data and had intensified the dredging operation at a few colonies such as Nizam Colony, Kamarajapuram, Malaiyeedu, and Koodal Nagar.

“In case of heavy rain, the residents in these areas will be evacuated and accommodated in the nearby municipal schools,” official source told The Hindu here on Wednesday.

C. Vijaya Baskar, Minister for Health, inspected the dredging work being executed in the town and advised the municipal and public health officials to ensure proper upkeep of the channels. He inspected the Periya Vaikkal which runs to a length of 2 km in the town.