Residents who have had to endure seeing filthy stretches of the Cooum river along Poonamallee High Road near Koyambedu may now hope to have a better view in some portions.
The Water Resources Department (WRD) has started cleaning some stretches of the river as part of the ambitious Integrated Cooum River Eco-Restoration Plan. “We have taken up cleaning the vegetation along the river as a preliminary step of the project,” said an official.
Even as the Chennai Corporation is preparing to begin a biometric survey of the encroachments along the river, the WRD has decided to carry out works in various stretches of the river. The Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust has identified the portion of the river for a distance of 27 km between the Cooum’s mouth near Napier bridge and Paruthipattu to be improved.
At present, the stretches between Chetpet and Padikuppam causeway and Vanagaram and Paruthipattu near Avadi are being cleaned as part of the work costing Rs. 93.57 crore. Several machines have been engaged in cleaning the river banks for a few days now. “We are cleaning the bund on either side that is thick with vegetation and also strengthening the bund. Floating garbage is also being cleared,” said an official.
A team is also involved in demarcating the boundary of the river and fixing boundary stones to prevent further encroachments. The river, which is 100 m wide in the city outskirts, shrinks to 50 m in the city.
“There are over 15,000 encroachments to be enumerated along the bank. Instead of waiting for the process to end, we decided to start strengthening the bund and protect it wherever possible,” the official added.
The department is awaiting coastal regulation zone clearance from Ministry of Environment to take up work upstream of Chetpet till the river mouth. Any work needs approval as the impact of tidal action is felt in this stretch.
However, desilting and formation of the baby canal in the middle of the river bed to ensure free flow of water is possible only after the removal of encroachments. “We plan to deposit 50 per cent of the silt from the river bed along the banks and convey the remaining to the low-lying areas. Some portions will be fenced after cleaning the bank,” he added.