Chennai: With only two months left for the North East monsoon to set in, the Tamil Nadu government has sanctioned Rs 7.5 crore to clear major canals and waterways in Chennai to avert floods.
Following this, the Public Works Department has prepared a list of 41 pre-monsoon works to be carried out in three major river basins in the city. This includes, Lower Palar basin in Kancheepuram district,
Araniyar basin and Kosasthalaiyar basin in Tiruvallur district. Three canals- KP, Link and Feeder canals- part of Krishna Water supply project will also be strengthened and desilted.
But residents and activists are skeptical as previous promises to desilt and clear major canals prone to flooding have not been fulfilled by the government. At various spots in the city portions of Buckingham Canal and Adyar River can be seen overflowing with garbage and weeds. Virugambakkam Canal and Otteri Nullah are two other important waterways which only have been partially cleaned by PWD, said residents.
Haris Sultan, a member of Arappor Iyakkam, along with other volunteers had organised a social audit of the Virugambakkam Canal last year. They found that floating materials in the canal are being removed by earth movers and dumped on the banks of the canal. "When it rained soon after, all the garbage removed found its way back into the canal. Also, transparency and accountability are two factors found lacking
with the PWD. And all these cleaning are being done in an unscientific method. Some canals which are outside the city need to be desilted only once in three years and those inside the city need rigorous
cleanups," said Haris.
Balaji CR, another activist who regularly audits waterbodies said that PWD has been lethargic year after year about cleanup of water ways. "The Estuary is not cleaned regularly, and smaller lakes like the ones
in Ambattur and Velachery lake are often neglected. It is natural that sand piles every year but rivers Adyar and Cooum are totally forgotten about as they are considered to be dead rivers," he added.
The 41 works listed by PWD include removal of weeds and floating material from Velachery drainage canal, from surplus course of Nanmangalam, Kilkattalai, Sembakkam and Narayanapuram tank, from
Perumbakkam surplus course, desilting of Thiruneermalai surplus course to Adyar River, from Kalipattur Maduvu, from Sriperumbadur tank surplus course among others.