In a long pending move, the Tiruchi Corporation has decided to widen the Irattai Vaical culvert across Salai Road to ensure free flow of sewage and storm water from Thillai Nagar and Thennur areas.
The work will begin on Saturday following which the City police have announced traffic diversions to facilitate the construction work.
The narrow culvert cutting across the road from Thillai Nagar towards Annamalai Nagar is unable to handle the heavy sewage flow and during monsoon the drain gets choked often leading to stagnation and heading up of rainwater and sewage into residential colonies.
The Irattai Vaical is one of the major open drains that serves as a sewage canal and also storm water drain during monsoon. The canal running from Thennur forms a vital link in the network of drains and along with Virupachipuram, Vannarapettai and Kottai Vaicals account for a vital network of drainage system in the city. Of these, the Thennur and Kottai Vaicals serve as major storm water drains for several residential colonies in Thillai Nagar, Woraiyur, Thennur, Anna Nagar and Madurai Road areas.
The Thennur Iratti Vaical, also known as Cholarajapuram Vaical, runs from Thennur and flows across the Karur Bypass Road and Mela Chinthamani to drain into the Cauvery along with the Kottai Vaical. Encroachments over the years and poor maintenance have reduced the canal to a width of just about four to five feet from its original width ranging from 21 to 40 feet.
In recent years, the Corporation cleared some encroachments and made attempts to lay concrete lining on certain stretches along Thillai Nagar. This is the third drainage culvert to be widened to ensure smooth flow of sewage and rain water. A couple of culverts near KMC Hospital on Thennur High Road and Jayanthi Hotel bus stop on Salai Road were already widened.
The culvert at Salai Road will be demolished and a new structure is to be built. The work will be taken up on an outlay of Rs.27.50 lakh, Corporation sources said and it would be completed within 60 days.
The width of the vents would be widened and their height raised, the sources said.
Traffic diversion
The City police have announced that the following diversions would be enforced from Saturday in view of the re-construction of the culvert:
Town buses heading for Central Bus Stand from Chathram Bus Stand (via Woraiyur) will be diverted through Thillai Nagar I Cross from Shastri Road and rejoin the Salai Road at Thillai Nagar arch.
Town buses heading for Central Bus Stand from Chathram Bus Stand (via Thillai Nagar) will also go via Thillai Nagar I Cross from Shastri Road to reach the Thillai Nagar Main Road.
Buses operating in the return direction would go via Salai Road as the reconstruction work would be executed in two stages – covering one half of the Salai Road at a time.
