Corpn. identifies places in need of culverts to prevent floods

List of 25 such locations located near train tracks shared with Southern Railway

Robust drainage: Monsoon preparedness work being done on Poonamallee High Road recently.

As the Meteorological Department has asked the Greater Chennai Corporation to prepare for the onset of the northeast monsoon by October 28, the civic body has started work to prevent flooding in low-lying areas.

At a recent meeting with railway officials, the Corporation shared a list of 25 locations, where culverts must be built for mitigation of flooding in major residential areas near railway lines. The work is expected to be completed ahead of the onset of the monsoon.

The Southern Railway has given a list of places where it will need the cooperation of the Corporation and the Public Works Department (PWD) to undertake the work, civic officials said.

Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi said the work on development of culverts, near the Police Commissioner’s office, Egmore, had been taken up and would be completed shortly.

“Based on the request of the Corporation, the PWD has already put in its floating JCBs in places like Basin Bridge junction and Vysarpadi, where the Buckingham Canal needs to be desilted,” he said.

Over 27 locations in various parts of the city and the suburbs will get new culverts, constructed by the Highways Department. As a result, many of the residential areas along Poonamallee High Road, Grand Southern Trunk Road and Grand Northern Trunk Road are expected to get the required infrastructure for flood mitigation.

“We are desilting the Walltax area of the Buckingham Canal, where it gets clogged near the railway line junction. Similar work will be taken up in other such areas,” Mr. Bedi said.

The Corporation has started work on removing silt underneath the Egmore railway station. The work will be completed before the onset of the monsoon, and work on removal of water hyacinth in waterbodies, such as the Velachery lake, is under way.

The civic body has also pressed into service its seven super-sucker machines at various locations. Nodal officers monitoring flood preparedness at the zonal level have readied machines to remove trees and bale out water from low-lying areas.