CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Sunday presented a memorandum to Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu seeking approval for various projects in the state.
Palaniswami and Union Minister for Urban Development Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Information and Broadcasting, M Venkaiah Naidu reviewed various ongoing central government projects in the state.
During his brief interaction, Palaniswami sought his approval for setting up two more desalination plants at a cost of Rs 5,312 crore to augment the demand. Palaniswami said the state already had 100 MLD (million litres per day) desalination plants at Minjur and Nemmeli in Chennai. “The Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board and Tamil Nadu government have prepared a detailed project report for a 400 MLD Desalination Project costing Rs 5,312 crore,” he told reporters. The report has already been sent to Japan International Cooperation agency (JICA) through the Ministry of Urban Development and Department of Economic Affairs, he noted. Palaniswami urged Naidu to take necessary steps to secure project funding from JICA. On the Centre’s Smart City Mission, the Chief Minister requested Naidu to declare six cities in Tamil Nadu as “Smart Cities.” The Government of India has allocated 12 Smart Cities and all the 12 Municipal Corporations in Tamil Nadu. In the first round, Greater Chennai and Coimbatore Corporations were approved while in the second round, Madurai, Salem, Thanjavur and Vellore Corporations were sanctioned under the Smart Cities programme. Tiruchirapalli, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Erode, Thiruppur and Dindigul have improved their Smart Cities proposal for third round competition. “I request the Ministry of Urban Development to approve the remaining six Smart City proposals,” he said. Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Centre had declared Tiruchirapalli and Coimbatore Municipal Corporations and 23 town panchayats as “open defecation free” cities and towns in the state, Palaniswami noted. In addition, two more municipal corporations, six municipalities and 50 town panchayats have already submitted proposals to Centre, seeking declaration as ‘Open Defecation free,’ he said. “The Government of India is requested to declare these cities and towns as ODF at the earlier,” he added.—PTI
