Even as polluted sections of the Buckingham canal are slowly getting a makeover, the unpolluted stretch of South Buckingham canal faces degradation.
Several people who made their homes in areas along Rajiv Gandhi Salai and East Coast Road counted the scenic view of the canal that runs between the arterial roads as a major reason for doing so. The 105-km-long South Buckingham canal runs between Kotturpuram and Marakkanam.
But, of late, portions of the canal are turning into an eyesore as garbage and debris are being dumped along the banks. The worst affected stretch is the 10-km-section between Sholinganallur and Muttukadu, particularly Uthandi, Kanathur and Muttukadu.
A panoramic view of the vast expanse of the waterway was one of the reasons Sowmya Sundar chose her apartment in Navalur some years ago. “What I see now is disturbing. The colour of the water has changed and it stinks. Untreated sewage is being let into the waterway,” she said.
Residents of Egattur and Navalur complain that the waterway and the backwaters are slowly degrading as large apartment complexes and panchayats discharge sewage and use them as makeshift dumping yards.
People in Egattur say the backwaters extending from Kelambakkam to Sholinganallur have shrunk in size and are getting polluted. The bird population visiting the canal and the backwaters too has decreased in the past few years.
The 13-km stretch of the South Buckingham Canal from Okkiam Maduvu and Muttukadu was recently widened to 100 metres under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
Officials from the Water Resources Department inspected the stretches a few days ago and found that private institutions too were dumping domestic waste. “We have put up caution boards along with the Kancheepuram collectorate in five locations warning against the dumping of garbage and release of sewage through lorries,” said an official.
In a bid to save the waterway from further abuse, the department is constructing a concrete wall for a minimum length of 70 metres in eight vulnerable locations, including Kanathur.
