The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has decided to form local committees to redress the complaints of residents who are against the Integrated Storm Water Drainage (ISWD) project being executed in six divisions along the East Coast Road (ECR).
The plan to have local committees comprising the Assistant Executive Engineers and Assistant Engineers was decided in a meeting organised by the civic body, for members of residents welfare associations, at Amma Maligai in the city on Thursday.
This was done to clarify doubts and highlight positive features of the ISWD project in preventing rainwater from flowing into the sea.
Residents and representatives from various associations and fishing communities attended the two-hour long meeting and raised concerns about the project. They noted that civic body officials have assured to provide them a detailed project report and hold further discussions.
Chitra Rajan, a resident of Akkarai, said, “Many residents pointed out that there were other civic amenities that needed to be given priority, including better water supply and sewer networks. Areas along the ECR do not need storm water drainage as the sandy soil allows for the natural percolation of water. We have asked the civic body not to carry out the project without the consent of the residents”.
Residents also noted that the project would hinder the groundwater recharge system and was not necessary for localities along the ECR unlike other areas in the city. Ram Shankar, coordinator, Save Water and Recharge Aquifers Network, said several participants were not convinced about the project and insisted on dropping it. Even during the 2015 floods, areas along the ECR were not waterlogged and recharge wells would help better percolation.
A senior official of the civic body said that the local committees would take remedial measures of any complaints that the residents brought up.
Thousands of cubic metres of rainwater would be saved by creating percolating wells in the sandy areas to prevent rainwater from being wasted and flowing into the sea. He said that more than 20 eco block wells, 168 sunken wells and 2,000 percolation pits, have been proposed in divisions covering Kottivakkam, Palavakkam, Neelangarai, Injambakkam, Sholinganallur and Uthandi.
The Kovalam basin project is being funded by KfW, the German Development Bank, and the detailed project report was being prepared by Kocks Consultants, he added.
