Tiruchirapalli - Utility Services

Utility Services

Electricity supply to the city is regulated and distributed by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB). Tiruchirappalli is the headquarters of the Trichy region of TNEB. The city along with its suburbs forms the Trichy Metro Electricity Distribution Circle which is further sub-divided into six divisions. A Chief Distribution engineer is stationed at the regional headquarters at Tennur. Water supply is provided by the Tiruchirappalli City Corporation. Of the six headworks from which the city gets its water supply, four are maintained by the municipal corporation and the rest by other agencies. Apart from the Gandhi market, Central Bus terminus and the Chathram bus terminus, solid waste management in the city is handled by the corporation. About 400 tonnes of solid waste are released from city every year. The principal landfill is at Ariyamangalam. Recently, the Tiruchirappalli city corporation has gone in for scientific closure of the garbage dump and its replacement with a sewerage treatment plant. Waste water management in the Trichy-Srirangam under ground drainage (UGD) areas are handled by the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD) and in other areas by the Tiruchirappalli Municipal Corporation. The high toxicity of the waste water released by the Trichy Distilleries and Chemicals Limited (TDCL) is a major cause of concern for the corporation. The corporation's annual expenditure for the year 2010–11 is estimated to be Rs. 155.94 crores. Under the National Urban Sanitation Policy, Tiruchirappalli, with a sanitation coverage of 70 percent was ranked sixth in India and first in Tamil Nadu on the basis of sanitation for the year 2009–10. In January 2010, Tiruchirappalli became the first city in India where open defecation was prevented in all its slums.

Tiruchirappalli comes under the Tiruchi Telecom District of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), India's state-owned telecom and internet services provider. There are a total of about 20,000 business telephone subscribers in the city. Both Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile services are available. Apart from telecom, BSNL also provides broadband internet service. BSNL began offering wireless internet services with the commencement of Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO) transmission in 2008. Tiruchirappalli is one of the few cities in India where BSNL's Caller Line Identification (CLI) based internet service Netone is available. Softnet (STPI), Tata VSNL, Bharti and Reliance are other major broadband internet service providers in the city.

Tiruchirappalli has a passport office which commenced its operations on 23 March 1983. Apart from Tiruchirappalli, it also caters to the needs of seven adjacent districts namely, Karur, Nagappattinam, Perambalur, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur, Ariyalur and Tiruvarur.