CHENNAI: Following an announcement by Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam in the legislative assembly in February this year, a Government order has been issued for the 'comprehensive' restoration of the Buckingham canal and its associated drains, along with the major drains draining into the Adyar and Cooum rivers.
For the restoration work, Rs 1281.88 crores has been accorded administrative sanction, of which Rs 542.12 is for channel improvement works, Rs 131.42 for solid waste removal and Rs 608.34 for urban waterfront development.
The project is scheduled to be implemented during the course of three years, from 2020 to 2023.
Of the total outlay of Rs 5439.76 crores, a large part (Rs 3339.92 crores) is proposed to go towards the resettlement and rehabilitation of 21,334 families who may be displaced by the project. Of these families, 15,360 are residing along the Buckingham canal.
"The Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board needs to undertake a detailed survey of the Project Affected Families which is proposed under the World Bank assisted project 'Tamil Nadu Housing and Habitat Development for Urban Poor'," the order said.
Apart from this, funds have been split for sanitation, channel improvement, solid waste removal and urban waterfront development.
There are 52 drains - 21 Buckingham canal drains, 23 Adyar drains and eight Cooum drains. Of these, 26 minor drains are maintained by the Greater Chennai Corporation, according to Corporation officials while the remaining 26 are maintained by the Public Works Department (PWD).
"The role of the PWD will be in activities including carrying out improvement work and removal of encroachments along the Buckingham canal," a PWD official told Express.
The channel improvement, solid waste removal and urban waterfront components would be fully entrusted to the PWD and Greater Chennai Corporation for implementation for the drains under their administration, the order said.
A sum of Rs 728.96 crores for the sewage mitigation proposals (of a total Rs 1001 crores) has already been sanctioned by the Government, the order said.