As the Chennai Corporation is set to begin work on preparation of detailed project reports on eco-restoration of 104 waterbodies in various neighbourhoods of the city, hundreds of encroachments in such areas will not be cleared as of now.
According to estimates, buildings have come up on more than 75% of the area of waterbodies in most of the neighbourhoods.
“More than 50% of the 206 waterbodies have shrunk because of encroachments. Removing the encroachments is not possible now. So we will not remove any encroachments. We will only restore the existing waterbody,” said an official.
Residents’ role
The encroachments on the waterbodies range from one acre to 10 acres. For example, the Puducherry keni in Sholinganallur zone, covering 10 acres, is set to be restored with support from NGOs. IT companies have also started adopting the waterbodies. “But, the restoration will be tough without the participation of the residents,” said an official.
After the civic body started work on eco-restoration, representatives of residents’ associations, commercial establishments and industries encroaching the waterbodies have started visiting the Chennai Corporation offices, voicing concern over demolition of the buildings, opposing the increase in waterspread area of the ponds and lakes. Some of the residents have even demanded reduction in the waterspread area of the ponds and lakes, developing parks instead. Most of them are reportedly worried about the demolition of buildings based on the detailed project reports. A few residents have, however, demanded the removal of the encroachments.
The civic body is planning to begin restoration of all the 206 waterbodies before the onset of the monsoon. “If we start eviction, the entire project will be disrupted by protests,” said an official, pointing to the protests by several slums along the Cooum. Some of the 53 slums have not yet allowed the officials to evict them for the Cooum eco-restoration project.
In the first two phases of the eco-restoration project, only waterbodies without encroachments have been taken up due to opposition from encroachers. The civic body has been reluctant to take up restoration of waterbodies because of the large number of encroachments, which caused a delay in eco-restoration of at least 104 waterbodies.
Officials said the detailed project report for eco-restoration of 104 waterbodies will begin shortly.