80% drains and waterbodies across Chennai desilted- The New Indian Express

Express message service

CHENNAI: Up to 80 percent of maintenance work on the city’s storm sewers and waters was completed before the onset of the monsoons. Officials said all major storm sewers in Chennai have been drained, preventing hours of water stagnation in the event of heavy rainfall.

According to data released by the city company TNIE, work on 552 km of the 697 km of storm sewers that needed maintenance, including silting and reconstruction, has been completed. “Up to 3,392 of 4,254 storm sewers were desilated. The rest will be done in the second week of October, ”said a senior company official.

Maintenance work has yet to begin in around 60 km of the sewer system. “These are spread all over the city and we are preparing estimates for them,” added the official. The citizenry has also carried out extensive sewer rehabilitation work, such as dismantling the existing structures and building new ones at 81 locations in the city.

The city company recently issued a present report to 23 contractors asking them to answer why they had not started the project. The citizens had announced that they would act against them if they delay the project further. In addition, Chief Engineer (General) L. Nandakumar, who oversaw the stormwater drainage department, has been replaced in an internal transfer by S Rajendran, who will also head the Singara Chennai 2.0 department. The program includes various waterway projects.

Meanwhile, official data shows that 148 of the 210 bodies of water have been fully restored through various programs including Smart City and Chennai Mega City Development Mission (CMCDM). “Restoration work is underway on 37 bodies of water and we are preparing estimates to restore another 25,” added the official.

In this context, a meeting with various line departments, consisting of the police, fire brigade, public works and railways, took place in the Ripon buildings on Wednesday. Representatives from these departments have been instructed to prepare for the monsoons and maintain the waterways and subways that fall under their jurisdiction.

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