The process of acquiring land for restoring the surplus course of various water bodies on the city fringes, as part of flood mitigation measures, have been initiated by the Water Resources Department (WRD).
Officials of WRD said the Manapakkam channel, which carries surplus water from the Porur lake to the Adyar , has been encroached upon in a few places. This had resulted in inundation in the neighbouring localities during monsoon. Of the 6.3-km long channel covering areas such as Gerugambakkam and Moulivakkam, the 1.2-km stretch along the service lane of Chennai bypass has been blocked.
The WRD plans to widen the channel by acquiring land in the stretch and also remove encroachments in other places. With this, the carrying capacity of the channel would increase to 2,000 cubic feet per second from the existing 800 cusecs. The branch canal in Kolappakkam would also be covered, an official said. The Rs.26-crore project would be taken up under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
The canal from the Ambattur lake to the water body in Korattur would also be rejuvenated. As a portion of the channel falls in the area under the control of SIDCO, the WRD is coordinating with the Ambattur Industrial Estate Manufacturers Association to acquire land for expanding the canal, an official said.
“We propose to widen the channel up to 6 metres. Many areas, including the industrial estate, get flooded during heavy rain as the canal's width is 2 m in several stretches,” he said. The Rs.19.63-crore project also involves concretisation of the canal bed.
Improvement works would be taken up in the surplus course of Maduravoyal lake and a diversion channel from the lake to the Cooum river would be constructed at a cost of nearly Rs.18 crore. The works would be completed in about 18 months.
