Peripheral areas to get piped water supply
According to the Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB), residents of OMR, ECR, Madhavaram, Thiruvottiyur and Manali will get piped water supply and an underground sewage system soon.
The Metro Water board plans to call tenders for around Rs. 2900 crore for water supply and underground sewage systems in areas in Neelankarai and Semmencherry. According to a resident in Neelankarai, lack of effective septic tanks in the area have led to leakages, causing mosquito menace. In addition, the area is plagued by illegal brokers and bore wells.
These areas actually came under the Greater Chennai Corporation only in 2011, yet never received these amenities, despite their demands for it. The Nemmeli and Minjur desalination plants were supposed to benefit these areas, however, no such progress has been made, with only the central parts of the city benefiting from these desalination plants.
Source: The Times of India
Read More: What you must do to register your borewells with Metro Water
Smart Classrooms to be installed in 28 schools
The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has announced that it will be launching ‘smart classrooms’ in 28 schools. Other than these new classrooms, work is already underway for these classrooms to be set up under the CITIIS (City Investments to Innovate Integrate and Sustain), in areas such as Royapuram, Thiruvanmayur and Adyar.
The work for the new classrooms is funded by the French development agency, AFD. In total the project is estimated to cost ₹95.25 crore out of which ₹76.2 crore will be provided by the French development agency. The Chennai Smart City Limited will fund ₹19.05 crore.
The project includes the setting up of ‘hard and soft infrastructure’ for smart classrooms. Toilets in these schools will also be a priority. The Mayor even inspected the modern toilets developed in schools under the CITIIS project in Chennai Middle School in Gandhi Gramam, Adyar. The Mayor also inspected the smart classrooms in Chennai Higher Secondary School in Bharathidasan Salai in Thiruvanmiyur..
Source: The Hindu
Read More: Greater Chennai Corporation budget places emphasis on schools and infrastructure
Anna Salai to have new elevated corridor
Anna Salai will be getting a new elevated corridor to reduce traffic and travel time between Teynampet and Saidapet. The announcement for the project was made by The Tamil Nadu Minister for Highways, EV Velu, who said that the highway would have four lanes and will cost Rs 485 crore.
The highway is proposed to be 3.2 Km long allowing vehicles to cross Eldams Road, SIET College, Cenotaph Road, Nandanam and CIT Nagar with ease. Tenders will be invited after sanction is received from the state government.
The project will be carried out in a phased manner.
Source: The New Indian Express
Rajiv Gandhi Hospital records zero covid cases for the first time since the pandemic
In a statement released by the Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital, it was revealed that on Monday, the last COVID-19 patient in the hospital had recovered and was discharged, leaving zero COVID-19 cases in the hospital for the first time since March 2020.
During the second wave in the summer of 2021, a total of 2,050 beds of the hospital were occupied and around 450 Intensive Care Units were set up. However, in the last few months, following the passing of the third wave, the number of COVID-19 patients declined significantly.
However, there are fears of a new wave coming about soon, with the discovery of the fast spreading Omicron variant XE, carried by a woman in Mumbai. On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ma Subramanian announced in Assembly that the government is prepared to tackle the XE variant or any other new strain of the virus.
Source: The New Indian Express
[Compiled by Savitha Ganesh]