Chennai Metro Water is carrying out desilting works in various parts of the city in a bid to ensure that sewers do not get clogged during rains resulting in inundation of streets.
The move comes in the wake of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s instructions to officials to take precautionary measures to meet the challenges of the monsoon in the city. Metro Water officials said that they would be desilting manholes and sewer main using jet rodding and desilting machines.
A Metro Water spokesman said that such ‘trouble spots’ had been identified in the city and added that Metro Water would be desilting about 52,000 metres of the sewer main and 1,800 manholes using 29 jet rodding and 29 desilting machines.
Metro Water managing director B Chandramohan inpected desilting works at nine places including Visalakshi Nagar, Gandhipuram and Mambalam areas.
The sewage generated from the households of Chennai city travels through 3,643 km of sewer main and is pumped through 219 sewage pumping stations to the 12 sewage treatment plants located at six places and treated as per the norms specified by the Pollution Control Board before being let into Chennai city’s waterways, the officials stated.
Metro Water said that solid waste from households and commercial complexes and the silt entering along with rainwater during the monsoon causes obstructions in the system.
The public have been advised not to let solid waste into sewers as it would block the system by not allowing rainwater to drain through the manholes, resulting in accumulation of silt.