Chapter 7

WATER SUPPLY & SANITATION

Tamil Nadu receives an annual rainfall of 968 m.m. as against the country’s average of 1250 mm. Nearly 65 % of the rainfall goes as run off into the sea and over exploitation of ground water has resulted in progressive lowering of water levels.

The drinking water demand for the urban and rural population of the State is 1410 MCM, of which 987 MCM is met by groundwater and the balance 423 MCM is met by surface water resources. The ultimate demand for the year 2020 has been assessed as 2170 MCM and the future presents us with the responsibility of managing the drinking water situation efficiently by prudent utilisation and augmentation through water conservation and recharge techniques.

Drainage schemes have been implemented in some of the major cities and low cost sanitation has been implemented in some medium/ small towns. Still the coverage is inadequate and there is a huge task pending before the State for fulfillment.

Review of Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002)- Outlay and Expenditure

The outlay provided for water supply and Sanitation Sector during the IX Five Year Plan Period was Rs. 3,200 crores representing 12.8 % of Tamil Nadu’s Ninth Five Year Plan Outlay of  Rs. 25,000 crores.  The outlay provided for major programmes under this sector and the likely actual expenditure incurred during the IX Five Year Plan Period are tabulated below:

Agency and Programme wise Ninth Five Year Plan  - Outlay and Expenditure

 (Rs. in crores)

In addition to the above, an amount of Rs. 21.86 Crores and Rs. 58.08 Crores was spent under Centrally Sponsored Schemes and Centrally Sponsored Schemes shared equally between State and Centre (full cost ) respectively during the Ninth Five Year Plan Period.

Tenth Five Year Plan

One of the important objectives of the Government of Tamil Nadu during the Tenth Five Year Plan Period is Water Security.  Hence, provision of safe drinking water to the people of the State has been accorded top most priority by the Government.  Moreover, ‘drinking water security’ and safe disposal of waste water are indispensable elements for achieving ‘health security’ and ‘ecological security’ forming part of the Chief Minister’s 15 Points Programme.

The areas to be covered under Water Supply and Sanitation are:  (i) Rural areas (ii) Urban areas and (iii) Chennai city.

The Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board would continue to implement Water supply and Sanitation schemes / programmes / projects both in rural and urban areas except Chennai.  A total sum of Rs.6,920.28 Crores is proposed to be spent during the Tenth Five Year Plan period by the TWAD Board.  The State budgetary support is Rs.3,794.78 crores.

The Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board would continue to implement water supply  and sanitation schemes / programmes / projects in Chennai Metropolitan area. A total sum of Rs.2,298.68 crores is proposed to be spent during the Tenth Five Year Plan by the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board.  The State support is Rs.1,005.22 Crores.

State Budgetary Support for the Tenth Five Year Plan

                                                                                          (Rs. in Crores)

Annual Plan 2002-03

An amount of Rs.88273.11 lakhs is approved for Water Supply and Sewerage Sector for the year 2002-03. Against this, the expenditure is anticipated to be  Rs.64058.83 lakhs.

Annual Plan 2003-04

A. Sewerage  Schemes (Outlay Rs.1500.01 lakhs).

Sewerage schemes are in existence in 16 Towns comprising  4 Corporations, 11 Municipalities and 1 Urban Panchayats. In addition, sewerage schemes in Madurai Corporation and Kumbakonam Municipality areas would also be undertaken.   An Action Plan for providing sewerage schemes for all the municipal towns will be drawn up and implemented in a phased manner.

The CMWSS Board has taken up the following projects under sewerage sector: 1) Chennai city rivers conservation project, 2) Construction of 50 MLD tertiary treatment and reverse osmosis plant, 3) Strengthening of existing sewerage scheme, 4) Expansion of STP capacity to 264 MLD, 5) Madurai and Kumbakonam Sewerage Scheme under NRCP. These schemes will be implemented through outside State budgetary resources.

Under ongoing plan programmes an amount of Rs.1500.01 lakhs is proposed for the sewerage scheme for the year 2003-04.  The schemes are (a) Capital Grant to CMA for assistance to local bodies in Chennai Region for solid waste management (Outlay Rs.10 crores), (b) Capital Grant to Chennai Metropolitan Development Plan - CMA for sewerage facilities in Chennai Region (Outlay Rs. 5 crores) and (c) Capital grant to Urban Local Bodies for sewerage schemes (Outlay Rs.0.01 lakhs).

B. Urban Water Supply Schemes: ( Outlay Rs. 27115.98 lakhs)

1. Status on Chennai City Water Supply during 2003 and Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply And Sewerage Board

Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board is charged with the responsibility of providing drinking water to the Chennai Metropolitan Area (MMA) and also the corresponding expansion of the sewerage system.

The rainfall was deficient in the catchment areas of the lakes supplying water to Chennai City during 2002.  Considering this difficult situation and in order to ensure supply of drinking water to residents of Chennai and suburbs the following schemes are proposed to be implemented during 2003-04.

Second Chennai Water Supply Project : The Second Chennai Water Supply project has been taken up for implementation in 1995 at a revised cost of Rs.778 crores with a World Bank Loan assistance of U.S.$ 86 Million. The funding of the project is 17.25 % for Board's Internal generation and 17.25 % from Government of Tamil Nadu as grant and the balance 65.5% is funded by the World Bank. The scheduled date of completion of the project was June, 2002- the World Bank has granted extension of time till March, 2004. The Project aims at improving the water supply distribution system in Chennai City. Certain emergent works at Chennai city were taken up with retro-active funding in 1995 and completed for distribution of 3 TMC of Krishna Water in Chennai City. Most of the major works have been completed and the remaining work will be taken up during the year 2003-04. Further, all the unfinished works from the First Chennai Water Supply and Sanitation Project have been taken up and completed. Leak detection and rectification works have also been taken up in 3 phases. One phase has been completed, the second phase will be completed by January, 2003 and the remaining work will be completed by March, 2004.

Krishna Water from Andhra Pradesh is to be treated in two different locations. One treatment Plant for 300 MLD capacity has been constructed at Red Hills and commissioned. For treating the second stage, one treatment plant with a capacity of 530 MLD is proposed at Chembarampakkam.

Chennai Water Supply  Augmentation  Project:   Project I enables the drawal of water from Veeranam Lake and distribution of about 180 Million Litres daily of treated water to the City. The Project will be executed within two years. The estimated cost of the project is Rs.720 crores and it is to be funded partly by the Government and partly by financial institutions. To prevent rain water running off into the sea, construction of check dams, reservoirs, tanks, etc., are proposed to store surplus water in Kortalaiyar, Coovum, Adayar and Palar rivers. The Chennai water Supply augmentation Project-II aims at the construction of check dams. The project is estimated to cost around Rs.493 Crores.  The revised administrative approval from the Government is awaited. The PWD will prepare a detailed project for various components. In regard to deepening and de-silting of lakes, the PWD has taken up the de-silting of Ambattur,  Korattur, and Madhavaram lakes.

To augment drinking water supply and as a lasting solution to the water scarcity problem in Chennai City, it is proposed to provide a desalination plant with 300 MLD capacity at a project cost of Rs.1500 Crores  on BOOT (Build, Own, Operate and Transfer) basis during 2003-04.

Most of the works envisaged in the "Master Plan for Water Supply and Sewerage" were completed and the remaining works will be taken up during the year 2003-07 in the Tenth Plan period.

2. Schemes Executed by TWAD Board

The TWAD Board is implementing the  Water Supply and Sewerage Schemes for urban towns other than Chennai City.

The Schemes are being implemented with financial assistance from LIC, HUDCO, other financial institutions and Government of Tamil Nadu.  The State Government provides capital grants to urban local bodies to the extent necessary to make the scheme financially viable.  Apart from this, water supply schemes will be taken up afresh in 8 Urban towns under the Government of India scheme viz., "Accelerated Urban Water Supply Programme" at an estimated cost of Rs.22.24 crores.  The norms for the supply of water in urban areas are 110 lpcd for the Corporation areas, 90 lpcd for the Municipal areas and 70 lpcd for the Town Panchayat areas. 

3.  Plan Programmes for 2003-04

The plan programmes envisaged for the year 2003-04 are (i) Capital grant towards Krishna River water supply project (Outlay Rs.154.87 lakhs), (ii) Construction of Dams for storage of Krishna water (Outlay Rs.468 lakhs), (iii) Formation of canal for bringing water from Krishna River (Outlay Rs.96.16 lakhs), (iv) Grants to CMWSSB for upgradation of Watersupply distribution under II CWSP (Outlay Rs.590 lakhs), (v) Margin money capital grant to Urban local bodies for watersupply schemes (Outlay Rs.20.00 crores), (vi) Water supply / Sewerage scheme through assistance from HUDCO and TUFIDCO by MWSSB (Outlay Rs.40.00 crores), (vii) New Tiruppur Water supply scheme (Outlay for Rs.0.01 lakh), (viii) Improvement of urban local bodies water supply scheme implemented by Town Panchayat Department, a new scheme sanctioned for the year 2003-04 (Outlay Rs. 1.00 crore), (ix) Share capital assistance to CMWSSB for CWSAP-I (Outlay Rs. 50.00 crores), (x) Share capital assistance to  CMWSSB for CWSAP-II (Outlay Rs. 5.00 crores), (xi) Grants to TWAD Board for execution of accelerated urban water supply scheme (Outlay Rs.1111.93 lakhs - State share) (xii) loan to MWSSB for upgradation of water supply distribution (Outlay Rs. 5637.00 lakhs), (xiii) Loan to NTADCL for New Tiruppur Water supply scheme (Outlay Rs.0.01 lakhs), (xiv) Loans to Municipal Corporations and Municipalities (Outlay Rs.6458 lakhs), (xv) Urban Water Supply scheme implemented by TWAD Board (Outlay Rs.10.00 crores)

Thus an amount of Rs. 27115.98 lakhs is proposed for urban water supply schemes for the year 2003-04.

C. Rural Water Supply Schemes: ( Outlay Rs. 28900.01 lakhs)

As on 1.4.2002,  28,623 rural habitations were fully covered, 51,294 partially covered and 505 habitations had no reliable sources of water supply.  To assess the status of rural water supply as on 1.1.2003, a fresh survey is being undertaken and it is nearing finalisation.  The results of this survey will form the basis for taking up new water supply schemes in future.  

The TWAD Board is implementing various programmes for rural areas. For the year 2003-04, it has been programmed to implement water supply schemes in 6401 rural habitations as per norms, which fall under the category of having lesser service level. Apart from this, spill over schemes for 20 RTPs will be completed during the plan year. Water supply schemes for Rural Town Panchayats are being implemented with 100% grant under the Minimum Needs Programme. During 2003-04, it is proposed to construct 500 rain water harvesting structures consisting of check dams, percolation ponds, Oorani improvements and recharge pits, under PMGY programme.

The plan programmes proposed to be implemented during the year 2003-04 under this head are (i) Rural Water supply under minimum needs programme (Outlay Rs. 274.00 crores), (ii) Grants to TWAD Board for implementation of Water supply and sanitation project in rural areas under World Bank assistance (Outlay Rs.0.01 lakh), (iii) Assistance for Rural Water supply under PMGY (Outlay Rs.15.00 crores). Under this desilting of 300 structures (water bodies) will be taken up and completed.

In the current year water supply schemes will be taken up in 6000 rural habitations in order to make them fully covered habitations.  Out of these 1000 habitations are proposed to be covered under Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) at a cost of Rs.70 crores.

Under Community Participation in Water Supply schemes during 2003-04, 1237 rural habitations will be covered at a total estimated cost of Rs.55 crores.  The programme will be implemented in six select districts.

The other community  participation water supply scheme is the "Swajaldhara" introduced by the Government of India to augment rural water supply at an estimated cost of Rs.50 crores in the State covering 1200 habitations. 

Thus an outlay of Rs. 28900.01 lakhs is proposed for rural water supply schemes for the year 2003-04.

D. Other Programmes: (Outlay Rs. 4019.01 lakhs)

Under this head the Municipal Administration Dept. will provide an amount of Rs.4017.00 lakhs to NTADCL as grants for contribution to water storage fund.  An amount of Rs. 2.00 lakhs is also provided for Rain water harvesting facilities.  Further,   certain schemes will be taken up under the World Bank aided Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Sanitation Project.

Special Component plan

An amount of Rs. 137 crores is proposed for Rural water supply scheme under minimum need programme. During 2003-04, it is proposed to provide water supply to 2000 SC/ST habitations apart from providing 4000 Mini power pumps.

Plan Outlay for 2003-2004

A sum of Rs. 75235.01 Lakhs has been proposed for  'Water Supply and Sanitation' as shown below for the year 2003 –2004.

                                                                                 (Rs. in lakhs)

Centrally Sponsored Schemes

The following Centrally sponsored schemes have been proposed for the year 2003-04:

(a) Accelerated Rural Water supply programme for SC/ST habitation (Outlay Rs. 0.01 lakh) and (b) Grants to TWAD Board towards telecast charges on Rural water supply and sanitation programme  (Outlay Rs. 0.01 lakh)

Further, an amount of Rs.2223.86 lakhs is proposed for scheme grants to TWAD Board for the execution of Urban water supply programmes, the State share being Rs.1111.93 lakhs.