The Water Resources Department has started enumeration drive along Cooum river near Tiruverkadu on Thursday, to facilitate work to improve waterways.
A team of WRD officials, along with officials from revenue and police departments, carried out enumeration work on Perumal Koil Street, Tiruverkadu. A total of 160 structures that had encroached upon a portion of the Cooum river were identified and demarcated as part of the drive.
The work was delayed by a few hours owing to stiff opposition from residents, who later allowed the enumeration process to progress, after a discussion with the officials.
Officials of the WRD said about 160 encroached structures have been identified on Perumal Koil Street and biometric enumeration would be carried out with the cooperation of residents.
The WRD expects to retrieve encroached space along a distance of 250 metre after the unauthorised structures are cleared. The portion of the Cooum river would be wider by 20-30 metres once the eviction drive is completed in the locality.
Similarly, the department has also identified nearly 266 encroached structures at Shanmuga Nagar, Noombal, on the right bank of the river. The waterway’s boundary was also identified along the stretch.
Officials noted that these were some of the last segments of encroachments that were left uncleared along the urban stretch of the Cooum river. The work is being carried out as part of the integrated Cooum eco-restoration project, under the aegis of Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust.
About 13,200 encroachments have been removed so far along the stretch of the Cooum in city limits and residents were resettled in other parts of Chennai.
Meanwhile, residents of Tiruverkadu and Maduravoyal want the work to clean the river to be commenced soon. They noted that the stretch of the river between Tiruverkadu and Anna Nagar is clogged with aquatic vegetation and hence faced the challenge of sewage outfall at several points.
