Automobile workshops and auto spare parts shops along the Cooum in Pudupet will soon be shifted to Maraimalai Nagar, Mayor M.Subramanian said on Tuesday.
Speaking after participating in a human chain conducted by the Forum of Exnora Innovators Club of Virugambakkam and Saligramam, he said the relocation was part of the Cooum River Beautification Project. Earlier there were nearly 5,500 encroachments along the river of which 3,000 have been removed.
The human chain in which students of Marthoma Matriculation School and Chinmaya Vidyalaya participated was in support of the ‘Save the Virugambakkam Canal’ campaign. The Mayor said that a Rs.40.39-crore project to desilt and strengthen the Virugambakkam Canal would be implemented.
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Two canals to take the overflow from Porur and Maduravoyal lakes would also be laid. The work would commence by April or May, he said.
Exnora International Founder M. B. Nirmal urged the residents not to throw garbage into canals or let out sewage. “This would lead to clogging and allow breeding of mosquitoes.”
Class VII students of Chinmaya Vidyalaya R. Swaminathan, V. M. Vikram and S. Siddharth said that hidden cameras on the canal banks would help prevent people residing alongside from throwing rubbish into the water.
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They said a fine would also be a deterrent.