Date:11/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/11/stories/2008101154430600.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Work on to desilt major waterways

K.Lakshmi

Nearly 30 per cent completed; the rest to be over in 10 days

— Photo: M.Vedhan

Gearing up: The desilting of Buckingham canal, near Ice House, is one of the works undertaken by the WRD for the monsoon.

CHENNAI: The Water Resources Department (WRD) has started desilting waterways in the city as a measure to prevent inundation during the ensuing monsoon.

An official of the department said nearly 70 works to dredge and desilt the waterways at the cost of Rs.4.05 crore had been taken up over the last 10 days. Nearly 30 per cent of the work has also been completed.

Besides the major waterways, which include north, south and central Buckingham Canal, the Cooum river, Captain Cotton Canal and Otteri Nullah, the surplus courses of other important waterbodies such as those in Velachery, Ayanampakkam, Keelkatalai and Porur would also be cleaned up to facilitate free flow of water.

Work to desilt surplus water course from the Ambattur lake that flows via the industrial estate to the Korattur lake is also under way, the official said.

Removal of silt deposited on a few stretches such as the one close to north Buckingham Canal near Basin Bridge and central Buckingham Canal between Kutcheri Road and Luz Church Road was a challenging task.

The sewage collected from Otteri Nullah and Captain Cotton Canal flows into the north Buckingham canal, he said.

About Rs.80 lakh has been allocated towards cleaning up the north Buckingham canal that carried sewage from various areas, including Anna Nagar and Vyasarpadi.

Several waterways serve as a dump yard for debris and other materials making desilting a difficult task, the official pointed out. In a bid to facilitate effective and quick removal of silt and floating materials, the machinery mounted on a barge is involved in cleaning the 40-50 metre-wide north Buckingham canal at Basin Bridge and central Buckhingam canal.

Such an initiative of deploying machinery and barges was taken up three years ago to desilt the vulnerable portions of the canal.

The work is expected to be completed in about 10 days. The waterways would be monitored for obstructions that come in the way of a free flow of rainwater during monsoon and immediately desilted, the official added.