COIMBATORE: Nearly four years after Chief Minister MK Stalin ceremonially launched the Sanganoor Canal rejuvenation project, the transformation of the 11-km waterway is far from complete. What was originally envisioned as an 18-month project, scheduled to wrap up by April 2023, has instead stretched on with repeated hiccups in work and persistent challenges in clearing encroachments along the canal banks.
The Sanganoor Canal, which cuts through the heart of Coimbatore, has remained dry and neglected for decades. It was taken up for revival soon after the DMK government assumed office in 2021. During his visit to the district in November that year, Stalin inaugurated the first phase of the project, giving residents hope that the long-ignored channel would finally be restored into a functional urban waterway.
The initial phase, covering roughly 2.3 km from Mettupalayam Road to Sathyamangalam Road, was sanctioned at Rs 49 crore. A second package, originally proposed for a 1-km stretch at Rs 30.3 crore, was later shelved. The plan included building gabion walls, strengthening embankments with reinforced concrete, laying chip stones along the canal bed, creating pedestrian walkways, and constructing service roads on both sides of the canal.
However, on-ground progress has been painfully slow. The Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) was forced to halt the project for nearly 10 months beginning August 2022, as families living along the canal banks had not been provided with alternate housing. Without relocation support from the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board, civic officials were unable to clear encroachments needed for road construction. Work resumed only in June 2023, though the pace has continued to disappoint residents and environmental groups monitoring the project.
Speaking to TNIE, CCMC Commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakaran said the corporation had managed to finish constructing gabion and retaining walls along the entire 2.5-km stretch, including an additional 200m up to the Rathinapuri bridge, based on directives from the Directorate of Municipal Administration. "Only road works are pending. We've laid roads wherever encroachments have been removed. Once alternate houses are allotted for the remaining families, we will shift them and complete road works soon," he said.
CCMC officials said that about 200 houses were identified along the 2.5-km stretch. Of these, roughly 100 families have already been provided alternate accommodation as per the collector's orders, while 20 applications are under scrutiny. The remaining 80 families continue to await relocation. Presently, CCMC has completed 300m of BT road and around 1.5 km of WM road. The remaining stretches can be paved only after fully clearing encroachments.
Even as the first phase limps toward completion, CCMC in March 2025 submitted a fresh proposal seeking Rs 235 crore from the state government for the next 6.5-km phase of the project. The expanded plan aims to create continuous road connectivity along the canal, linking Mettupalayam Road with Trichy Road via Sathyamangalam Road and Avinashi Road, potentially transforming the corridor into a new urban mobility route.
Sanganoor Stream Dredging & Development Project
PHASE- I
Project Cost: Rs 49 crore
Total Length: 2.5 km
Phase - I work period: 18 months
Start date: November 2021
Halted in: August 2022
Resumed in: June 2023
Current progress of Phase I: RE wall Works - 100% | Road Works - 300 metres out of 2.5 km completed
PHASE II (3 Packages)
Project cost: Rs 235 crore
Total Length: 6.5 km
From: Mettupalayam Road
To: Trichy Road
Major Roads Covered: Sathy Road & Avinashi Road
Package 1: Rathinapuri to Sathy Road - 1 km - Rs 34cr
Package 2: Sathy Road to Avinashi Road - 2.6 km - Rs 95 cr
Package 3: Avinashi Road to Trichy Road - 2.9 km - Rs 103 cr
