Fishermen living in hamlets along the Ennore creek in north Chennai want the estuary that has silted up to be dredged.
Residents said that due to the silt piling up, they were unable to enter the sea. With the monsoon around the corner, they said that unless the estuary is dredged, water from the Kosasthalaiyar and Buckingham Canal that empty into the creek will break the banks and enter habitations.
“The direction of the waves has changed since the continuous dredging by one of the thermal power stations was stopped a couple of months ago. The waves are now hitting the opposite shore leading to heavy siltation. During low tide, we are able to walk across the creek and our boats get stuck in the sand causing much trouble,” said D. Joseph, a resident.
Kalaivannan, a fisherman, said the dredging needs to be done and sand needs to accumulate south of the old pier.
“We have submitted petitions to the Fisheries Minister, district administration and various other agencies. The work needs to be taken up on a war footing,” he said.
Removal of causeway
Also, the low-level causeway formed to carry coal to the Ennore Thermal Power Station (ETPS) beneath the new bridge needs to be removed so as to allow the free flow of water.
The work has been stopped following the orders of the National Green Tribunal, he added.
The Water Resources Department has not dredged the Ennore estuary for several years now. Since seawater is used by ETPS for various process, the authorities there used to dredge the estuary periodically.
However, after ETPS stopped dredging work nearly three months ago, the estuary has silted up.
The estuary must be dredged to a width of 100 metres to help tidal wave action.
Though the estuary falls under the control of the WRD, it was not engaged in the work like in other estuaries as ETPS was hitherto removed sand blocks from the estuary.
Officials of the WRD said that measures would be taken to dredge the Ennore estuary as part of monsoon preparedness work if ETPS does not resume dredging.
