The Hindu 01.10.2013
Work on diversion channel begins at Koyambedu
After much meticulous planning and a change in design,
the long-pending project to construct a diversion channel that will
carry water from Virugambakkam-Arumbakkam canal to Cooum river has
finally started.
Residents of areas, including
Koyambedu, Chinmaya Nagar and Virugambakkam, who face the constant
threat of flooding during monsoon may get a respite once the work taken
up by the Water Resources Department (WRD) is completed.
The
project, which was devised nearly four years ago, underwent a change in
design to avoid traffic-related problems in busy Koyambedu, especially
around the wholesale market complex and mofussil bus terminus.
Apart
from work to improve the canal itself, the project involves the
construction of a 2,200-metre-long channel to divert excess water of 400
cubic feet per second (cusecs) from the canal to Cooum river.
Doing
away with the earlier plan to construct the entire channel on Kaliamman
Koil Street and Jawaharlal Nehru Salai, the department has now started
work on the premises of the sewage treatment plant owned by Chennai
Metrowater. As a major portion of the channel would be built inside the
STP, there would be no interruption to traffic flow, said an official.
The diversion channel will travel via Metrowater STP, near CMBT on
Kaliamman Koil Street, Koyambedu and Jawaharlal Nehru Salai and cross
Poonamallee High Road to join the Cooum.
Officials of
the WRD said the project involved co-ordination of various departments
such as Highways, Chennai Corporation, Chennai Metrowater and CMBT. This
had led to the delay in starting the work under the Jawaharlal Nehru
National Urban Renewal Mission, they said.
“We expect
the work to be completed at a fast pace as the construction of the
four-metre-wide and two-metre-high channel would involve the use of
precast structures,” said an official. Work is set to be completed in
one year.