The Chennai Corporation will explore alternative sources of water supply for all the 700 parks in the city. As groundwater level has dipped in most of the Chennai Corporation parks, the civic body has roped in private agencies for commissioning sewage treatment plants to supply water to the parks.
For example, the Corporation has permitted Ishta Capital to commission a sewage treatment plant in the corporation park on Turnbulls Road in ward 122 of Teynampet zone under CSR funding.
“The sewage water inlets along the Adyar river will be identified for sourcing water for the plant. Water from the polluted Adyar river would be used by the STP for supplying water to the park. The company will maintain the STP for five years,” said an official.
The cost of the STP for supplying water to all the parks is estimated at ₹200 crore. Corporation parks require funding between ₹10 lakh and ₹40 lakh for water treatment and supply. The civic body has commissioned STPs in a few parks and has been spending ₹10 lakh for maintenance of the STP in each park.
Borewells yielding groundwater in the Corporation parks in areas such as Royapettah, Mylapore, Mandaveli, Besant Nagar, Egmore, Ice House and Chepauk have dried up. “These areas had aquifer zones in the depth of 3 to 10 metres. Now there is no water in the borewells,” said an official of the Corporation.
However, residents who had wells equipped with proper rainwater harvesting facilities continue to get groundwater at a depth of 8.5 metres in areas such as Royapettah, a few metres away from the corporation parks. Corporation officials have also started studying the design of the wells and rainwater harvesting structures in residential premises to improve water supply in parks.
The Corporation is also planning to rope in private agencies to treat sewage that pollute many of the 210 waterbodies across the city. Houses in the vicinity of the waterbodies have been letting sewage into the stormwater drains that connect to the waterbodies.