The Chennai Corporation will develop three new canals in the southern parts of the city to reduce inundation during monsoon.
The first canal will be developed from Okkiyam Maduvu to the sea. The second will connect Sholinganallur Junction with the Buckingham Canal, while the third will connect the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam radial road with the Buckingham Canal.
The Corporation has completed the draft feasibility report for development of stormwater drains in neighbourhoods of South Buckingham Canal and Pallikaranai. German development bank KfW is set to fund the project. The draft feasibility report has been prepared for the development of a network of more than 700 km of drains in the area.
“At least 4.92 lakh residents in the area were affected by inundation during the floods of 2015. This project will reduce inundation,” said an official.
The Corporation maintains 7,351 stretches of stormwater drains, extending over 1,894 km. Work on a feasibility study had started following the announcement by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on the floor of the Assembly in 2014.
In first phase, work was taken up in the Adyar and Cooum basins in 2016, with World Bank funding under the Tamil Nadu Sustainable Urban Development Project at a cost of ₹1,261.70 crore. More than 12 lakh people living in the Adyar and Cooum basins are the beneficiaries of the project. In the Kosasthalaiyar basin, a revised detailed project report for construction of drains along 763 km, at a cost of ₹2,518 crore, has been submitted to the Finance Department. This is to be sent to the Asian Development Bank for financing the project. The proposal has been examined by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and was approved in the 96th Steering Committee meeting of the Department of Economics Affairs held in New Delhi on January 22.
Lakhs of beneficiaries
On completion of the project, flooding is expected to reduce for around 30 lakh residents living in the area.
The feasibility study on Pallikaranai and the South Buckingham Canal watershed aims at providing a longterm investment plan, that would allow for sustainable management of stormwater drainage in the Kovalam catchment, an official said.