The State Cabinet on Wednesday decided to sanction Rs.10 crore for flood mitigation measures in Thampanoor and East Fort, where the district administration has already initiated demolition and eviction procedures.
In a statement here, Health and Devaswom Minister V.S. Sivakumar said major plans were in the pipeline to ensure that Thampanoor and East Fort remained free from waterlogging. The flooding of the area usually has a cascading effect on the rest of the city as well.
Efforts to renovate the drainage network around the Ponnara Park had helped control flooding of the railway station area to a major extent, he said.
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The work on increasing the width and depth of the Thampanoor-Pazhavangadi canal was in the last stages, while works worth Rs.6 crore were progressing for similar objectives in East Fort. The Road Fund Board was installing box culverts and increasing the width and depth of the Uppidamoodu-Vanchiyoor stretch of the Amayizhanjan canal. Work on de-silting and installing side-walls of the same canal’s stretch from Pettah was completed by the KSUDP and the Irrigation Department, he said.
A Cabinet meeting last week had also decided to construct a diversion canal that would connect the Thampanoor side of the Pazhavangadi canal and the Uppidamoodu area of the Amayizhanjan canal. The project would be implemented using State funds, and once completed, another project to link the drainages from the SS Kovil road to the new diversion canal would be taken up, the Minister said.
Stating that the second phase of the capital city development project would focus on flood mitigation and development of roads, the Minister said efforts were on for a solution to the flooding woes of areas including the Karimadom Colony, Ganganagar, Yamunanagar, Cauvery Gardens and the Thampanoor Thoppu region, Mr. Sivakumar added.
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