CHENNAI: Chennai could become a model for nature-based urban flood risk management in the country as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided an additional $6.8 million grant for the corporation for construction of a bird island and two hectares of forest at Manali’s Kadapakkam Lake in the next three to four years.
According to the project report accessed by TNIE, the additional fund for Integrated Urban Flood Management for the Chennai-Kosasthalaiyar Basin Project, which was sanctioned on August 16, will be used by the State for four purposes. The first is desilting the lake to restore its water-holding capacity.
It is learnt that the lake will be deepened by two metres to increase its capacity from 1.1 million to 2.2 million cubic meters. Apart from this, a 20-metre-wide bund will be constructed with a cycle track and a walking path. The fund will also be used to construct a bird island with an approximately two-hectare forest. Besides, recreational facilities will be set up, with features friendly to the elderly, women, children, and persons with disabilities.
The funds will also be used to raise awareness on waterbody rejuvenation using nature-based solutions. The focus is also on replicating such solutions in other cities of the State through the development of investment readiness roadmap.
Chennai’s rapid urbanisation has encroached the city’s natural landscape, reducing the water retention capacity, which makes the city vulnerable to flooding. ADB has initially provided a loan of $251 million to construct 588 km of new stormwater drains (SWDs), rehabilitate or replace 175 km of SWDs, improve 11 km stretches in the Ambattur, Ariyallur, Kadappakkam, and Korattur channels to enhance water-carrying capacity, and upgrade a stormwater pumping station and construct a new one.