More free spaces along waterways in the city will soon be used for building parks, playgrounds and parking areas.
Chennai Corporation is set to start yet another round of identification of such land as work on restoration of Chennai’s waterways gathers momentum. A meeting on the preparation of a master plan for restoration of Chennai’s waterways was held on Thursday.
The State government is mulling over the option of spending a large sum of money over a period of 10 years to clean Chennai’s waterways, including the Adyar river, Buckingham Canal and the Cooum.
A few years ago, the Corporation had secured lands along the Cooum river after rehabilitation of residents in slum neighbourhoods and created a number of parks and parking lots. But, a chunk of the free spaces along waterways are yet to be put to community use.
More than 700 sewage outfalls in the Cooum were identified a few years ago. Efforts are on to plug illegal outfalls, the number of which has increased considerably. The design of a sewage treatment system that is sympathetic to the waterway environment is likely to be a priority to cope with the problem of illegal sewage outfalls in the Cooum.
The Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board has built around 12,000 houses in Perumbakkam and Okkiyam Thoraipakkam for rehabilitation of slum residents. More houses are likely to be constructed soon.
