The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday granted an interim stay on the Chennai Corporation’s plan to go ahead with the setting up of a Solid Waste Management (SWM) facility at Kuthambakam vill

One of the water bodies in the city that is used as a transit point in the city’s water supply system, Porur Lake, is crying for attention and could do with a good dose of cleaning.

Located beside the Mount-Poonamallee Road and with a flyover dividing it, the lake, spread over an area of around 200 acres, surprisingly makes for a picturesque view when viewed at a distance. Move closer and the harsh reality reveals itself.

This summer, Chennai Metrowater’s well fields in Tiruvallur district will be rejuvenated after a gap of nearly a decade to tackle water shortage in the city.

The fast-depleting resources in the reservoirs, the major suppliers of drinking water to the city, have set the focus on well fields in Poondi, Tamaraipakkam and floodplains near Kosasthalaiyar river. Besides rejuvenating the 20 borewells in these well fields, the water agency plans to sink 16 more borewells to augment water supply.

Residents at Sadayankuppam, Thiruverkadu resort to temporary structures

The work on a bridge that would have made their lives much more convenient began two years ago. But even today, residents of Thiruverkadu are forced to use a narrow causeway to cross the Cooum as the work remains incomplete. For residents in and around Sadayankuppam, a rickety wooden structure is their only option to cross the Buckingham canal. These two localities are just some of the few where work on vital infrastructure projects has been stalled as land acquisition has not been completed.

The Vallur thermal power project, a joint venture project of the erstwhile Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) and the NTPC, should have supplied at least 375 megawatt of electricity to Tamil Nadu nearly two years ago – October 2010. The State should have got another 375 MW from the project in April 2011 and 375 MW more in October 2011.

This was the schedule of the project made public three years ago. In two weeks, it is going to be five years since the formal inauguration of work on the project.

Despite issues, TNRDC officials confident of completing work before deadline

The Rs.600-crore Ennore-Manali Road Improvement Project (EMRIP) has been put on the fast track and will be completed before the target date, a top official of Tamil Nadu Road Development Company (TNRDC) said on Tuesday.

Energy-related engineering and manufacturing enterprise Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has approached the Tamil Nadu government to reconsider its decision on cancelling a joint venture (JV) for the Rs 8000-crore Udangudi power project in downstate Tuticorin.

"We have written to the state government that we have enhanced our capacity to 20,000 Mw. So, considering our order-book size, we can complete the project within the set target of December 2015 if the job is given to us,"

Power Secretary P. Uma Shankar said 1000 MWe would be added in the next quarter and another 1000 MWe in the last quarter of this year.
The Vallur Power Project (3x500), the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC)'s joint venture with the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, was well on target. “The first unit will be ready by the end of this year,” said Arup Roy Choudhury, Chairman and Managing Director of NTPC.

The Tamil Nadu government has decided to encourage the private sector to set up units in the state to address the acute power shortage and as part of this, five private companies have “cleared formalities” to establish thermal power plants.

The Tamil Nadu Government has sanctioned over Rs 115 crore for two projects under the Irrigated Agriculture Modernisation and Water Bodies Restoration and Management programme to modernise irrigati