A 23-km-long decorative artwork fence will take shape along the Cooum River to prevent encroachments and pollution.
At a meeting with Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust on Wednesday, the Corporation decided to begin implementation of the short-term projects of the Integrated Cooum River Eco Restoration Plan.
The short-term projects (0 to 3 years) of Chennai Corporation includes an iron fence decorated with paintings or artwork, boom barriers at 10 locations along the river to trap solid waste, parks along five locations and four walkways. They will be implemented at an estimated cost of Rs.100 crore.
“We will commence the project in 2015 after removing 1,4000 encroachments,” said an official. A number of households and commercial buildings along the river will be demolished for the project.
Officials have identified hotspots of pollution and dumping of municipal solid waste along the Cooum. Solid waste along the banks will be removed at around Rs. 7.01 crore. Boom barriers will be commissioned at 10 locations at an estimated cost of Rs.1.5 crores for debris control in the river. “Corporation workers will remove debris periodically trapped by the boom barrier,” said an official.Four walkways and five parks are expected to attract tourists to the Cooum banks. Over Rs. 51.71 crore will be spent for commissioning the fence and parks. The fence will be commissioned between the mouth of the Cooum and Paruthipattu near Avadi. Chennai Corporation will complete the fence only in the city limits. In addition to beautification of the riverfront, work on desilting of the river, improving the sewage and storm water drain networks will also be carried out by other agencies. The civic body will involve local residents of neighbourhoods when deciding on the specifics of the riverfront makeover.
