The Greater Chennai Corporation has completed desilting of 1,918 stormwater drains, clearing 45% of the identified stretches, according to officials.
The civic body had identified 4,254 stormwater drains for desilting in various zones of the city.
Chief Secretary V. Irai Anbu inspected the work on Monday, and advised officials to speed up the work ahead of the onset of the northeast monsoon.
Mr. Anbu, Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi and other officials visited M.R.C. Nagar Main Road, Whannels Road, Ethiraj Salai and West Cott Road to check the progress of work. Recycler machines were used on some of these stretches.
Kodambakkam zone put up the best performance with 59% of the drains desilted. Of the 285 stormwater drains identified in the zone, 144 had been desilted. Ambattur, Anna Nagar, Adyar and Valasaravakkam zones registered more than 50% progress in the work.
Deadline set
Mr. Bedi said the work would be completed ahead of the deadline of October 15.
“There is an intensive drive this week in view of the Tamil Nadu government mass desilting campaign. Desilting is being undertaken all across the city. Around 1,000 workers were cleaning silt catch pits, and around 1,400 contract labourers were clearing the stormwater drains,” he said.
Latest technology
Pointing to the adoption of technology in cleaning the drains, Mr. Bedi said, “In addition to this, there are seven pressure jet rodding trucks which are being used to loosen out the deposited silt in between the manholes of stormwater drains and amphibian vehicles, which are clearing the water hyacinth and obstructions in the canal maintained by the GCC and the Public Works Department.”
“The Chief Secretary has directed all departments to co-ordinate and there was an inter-departmental meeting on Saturday involving the PWD, the GCC, Highways and other departments to prioritise various issues under the chairmanship of the Additional Chief Secretary of the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department and the Additional Chief Secretary of the PWD,” Mr. Bedi added.
