Several flood-prone areas in the city’s southern suburbs may soon be better equipped to face intense rainfall during monsoon. The Water Resources Department plans to fill in the missing links identified in water channels and surplus courses, which had made many localities susceptible to flooding.
After the 2015 floods that severely affected the southern suburbs, the WRD has chalked out a proposal for comprehensive management of sub basins in Kancheepuram district. As the entire project seeking a fund of nearly ₹1,000 crore is awaiting financial assistance, the department has taken up 11 projects to provide defined courses linking waterbodies and deepening lakes as part of flood protection measures. Nearly ₹100 crore would be spent towards the first phase of the project covering highly vulnerable areas.
One of the major projects is construction of a 760 m-long channel from Narayanapuram lake to Pallikaranai swamp near the Dr. Kamakshi hospital at a cost of ₹20 crore. Officials of the WRD noted that there was no defined course beneath the lake and such channels in the southern suburbs were running over patta lands that were later regularised. “We decided to construct box channels to avoid land acquisition that would further delay the project. We would incur enormous cost to acquire land for 6 m width over a 7- km long stretch,” said an official. This would mitigate inundation in areas such as Pallikaranai and Sunnambu Kolathur.
Diversion of water
Similarly, flood drain channels will be constructed to divert water from Chitlapakkam tank to Sembakkam tank, Adanur tank to Adyar river, Mudichur Road underpass along service road to Adyar river. The Pappan Channel would also be widened and a channel would be constructed from Mudichur Road junction to Adyar river.
Waterbodies in Manimangalam, Adanur, Guduvanchery, Urapakkam and Nanmangalam would also be deepened to improve storage capacity and reduce flooding up to 25% in neighbouring localities. “We also plan to form a reservoir near Orathur. This will help transfer of water to Manimangalam tank. We will also be able to store up to 1,000 million cubic feet of water in a year. This could be supplied to water-starved areas such as Anakaputhur and Pammal,” the official said.
Minor tanks
Now, minor tanks would be provided a facility to regulate water flow like in reservoirs. “We will reduce water level prior to heavy rainfall days to avoid flooding or breach,” the official added. Work is expected to start in mid-October and be completed in six months.
Meanwhile, residents said the waterbodies and watercourses must be restored to their original shape as found in the revenue villages’ maps and records. They also recalled that the Chief Minister had announced ₹96 crore for Chitlapakkam flood mitigation work.
Social activist P. Viswanathan noted that residents of the southern stretch of Chitlapakkam Town Panchayat were affected every year due to decreased capacity of waterbodies in Selaiyur and Chitlapakkam and also obstructions in water channels. He said work to construct a channel from Chitlapakkam Tank to Sembakkam Tank must be taken up immediately.
