Desilting work of the Buckle Canal was taken up by the Corporation near KVK Nagar bridge here on Thursday.
Pradeep V. Krishnakumar, City Health Officer, said two earthmovers and 10 sanitary workers were involved in the desilting work which had been taken up ahead of the onset of northeast monsoon, expected in October, to ensure free flow of storm water.
Safety gadgets including gumboots, hand gloves, face masks and reflective jackets were given to the sanitary workers. It was carried out under the Swachh Bharat scheme through Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, he said. The desilting work would continue until September on the 7.2 km canal under the supervision of the sanitary officers of zones concerned. While huge amounts of water hyacinth had deposited in the canal in some portions of the west zone, plastic wastes and other solid wastes had been dumped in the east zone.
Awareness pamphlets had been issued to residents at Boopalarayarpuram and S.S. Pillai market area, asking them not to dump wastes into the canal which often got choked.
Notices were also issued warning heavy penalty against littering. Garbage collection vehicles were going on rounds in the morning and hence residents had to wait for them and dump the waste. A series of awareness programmes, stressing the need for public hygiene would be conducted, he said.
