The civic body will soon dredge and develop two canals under the Smart Cities Mission.
According to sources, the Corporation took the decision to take up the Coimbatore Canal and Vellalore Raja Vaikal (main canal) at the recent board meeting of the Coimbatore Smart City Limited, the special purpose vehicle that implements the Mission projects.
The Corporation will clean the Coimbatore Canal for about three km and the Vellalore canal for five km – the stretch of the canals that fell within the city limits.
The Corporation’s decision to take up the two canals comes after it has almost finalised the finer details of the lake development project. The civic Corporation is developing eight lakes in city under the Smart Cities Mission at over ₹ 700 crore.
The sources say that the Corporation has just got the clearance to take up the development of the canals and it has a long way to go before it can begin work on the ground – preparation of a detailed project report, obtain administrative and technical sanction, float tenders, evaluate the bids and award contracts.
Meanwhile, the Corporation will also have to take possession of the canals, which are at present under the maintenance of the Public Works Department.
Officials in the Department say that they have not heard anything from their headquarters in Chennai but are aware of the Corporation's proposal.
The PWD officials say the Coimbatore Canal is 3.50 km long with a width of 3.50 m at the bottom and 10 m at the top. The Vellalore canal is 6.50 km long with a width of 4 m at the bottom and 12 m at the top.
The Corporation may look at lining the inner walls of canals in such a way that inflow of sewage is arrested, which is one of the reason for growth of shrubs. It may also consider constructing a motorcycle or bicycle track on the bund so as to prevent encroachments.
Corporation officials say they have similar ideas in mind and will discuss those during the detailed project report preparation.
