The city’s waterways, which are clogged with weeds and
waste, will soon be cleaned up, with the Water Resources Department
(WRD) planning to initiate the project in a week to arrest flooding
during the northeast monsoon.
The WRD is awaiting a
government order to sanction funds of Rs. 4.43 crore. Officials said
that over 70 km of various city waterways would be cleaned up under the
project. “We expect to obtain the government order in a week. We have
split the work on the stretches into 71 packages to simultaneously clean
up the entire length before the onset of the monsoon by October-end,”
said an official.
The department has begun de-weeding
and desilting three waterways – Otteri Nullah, North Buckingham canal
and Virugambakkam canal – running to a length of nearly 35 km under the
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
Besides
the stretch of Central Buckingham canal between Chepauk and Adyar, the
surplus course of Ambattur and Korattur lakes would also be desilted and
de-weeded. Only five to six km of the Cooum River would be cleaned up.
“We have identified certain stretches of the river near Mehta Nagar,
Koyambedu, Padikuppam and Naduvankarai where silt gets deposited
regularly,” said an official.
Similarly, the
department has identified nine points on the Adyar river to clear
accumulated waste. Apart from Velachery surplus channel, eight drains
that bring inflow and carry surplus from the Chembarampakkam reservoir
such as the Virugambakkam, Manapakkam and Porur surplus courses would
also be relieved of garbage.
The surplus courses of
12 tanks, including those at Keelkattalai, Adambakkam, Sembakkam and
Chitlapakkam, , would be cleaned up.
Other works
would include cleaning up of Otiampakkam drain and pappaan channel that
drain floodwater from West Tambaram and Perungalathur into the Adyar
river near Tiruneermalai. The silt dredged up from the waterways would
be carried and dumped at low-level areas in the outskirts of the city.
Courtesy : The Hindu
