Riding on the success of ensuring pure drinking water to 2500-odd residents of Chitlapakkam Town Panchayat in Kancheepuram district, the Directorate of Town Panchayats has decided to extend its arms to other areas by installing more such reverse osmosis plants across the State. Joint Director of Town Panchayats, S.M. Malaiaman Thirumudikari told The Hindu that a proposal would be submitted to the government for extending this facility to other districts of the State. He, along with a team of officials from DTP, inspected these plants set up as a pilot project at a cost of Rs. 30 lakh in Chitlapakkam Town Panchayat on Tuesday. “RO plants would be established on the basis of demand from the local community and the annual maintenance contract (AMC) would be entrusted with women self help groups drawn from the districts. Secondly, RO plants with vending machine would be installed in places where there are more floating population,” Mr. Thirumudikari said. Officials from the Directorate pointed out that an RO plant with vending machine which was launched as pilot project in Pullambadi Town Panchayat in Lalgudi taluk of Tiruchi district was a tremendous hit among the local residents. This one was installed by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited in February last year under the Corporate Social Responsibility activities of the PSU. By inserting a one rupee coin, one can collect five litres of drinking water. Every hour, it would take in 4,000 litres of groundwater to purify, out of which 2,500 litres would be available for consumption, officials said. DTP officials were optimistic that establishing similar facilities across the State would ensure free or low priced purified drinking water for more residents.