CHENNAI: Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner GS Sameeran on Saturday directed officials to complete all ongoing stormwater drain (SWD) works by August, months ahead of the northeast monsoon, and expedite desilting of canals, construction of flood-retaining walls, and other monsoon preparedness measures.
The directions were issued during a review meeting held at the Ripon Buildings with senior corporation and zonal officials. During the meeting, Sameeran instructed officials to prioritise connecting all missing links in the SWD network before the onset of the monsoon.
So far, 36,982 silt catch pits have been desilted, removing over 1,849.10 metric tonnes of accumulated silt.
The commissioner also instructed officials to intensify desilting operations across all 44 canals maintained by the civic body and complete flood-retaining wall works on priority. He reviewed improvement works along the Virugambakkam Canal, Otteri Nullah, Veerangal Odai and other major waterways. He also instructed them to remove blockages at junctions where SWDs discharge into canals and where canals join the Adyar River, Cooum River and Buckingham Canal.
54 hoardings removed
The city corporation has removed 54 unauthorised advertisement hoardings erected across the Teynampet zone and collected a penalty of Rs 2.29 lakh from violators as part of its ongoing drive against illegal hoardings. According to an official release, the action was carried out on June 25, during which all unauthorised hoardings identified in the zone were removed.