: As part of preparedness for the oncoming northeast monsoon, Chennai Corporation is set to float tenders to desilt the city’s storm water drain network in about a week’s time.

The stormwater drain network covering a distance of 950 km across the city will be desilted before the onset of the monsoon, Mayor M.Subramanian said here on Monday.

He was reviewing the work to improve the Nandanam canal near Satyamurthy Nagar, Nandanam.

The meeting with various government agencies to discuss strategies for monsoon preparedness would be convened by August to prevent inundation.

On the canals improvement project taken up under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, he said the work to concretise the canal beds and fence 16 minor waterways for a stretch of 28.64 km is in progress.

Work is under way at the 1.1 km-long Nandanam canal at a cost of Rs.8.52 crore. Improvement of the SWD network in Mambalam and Nandanam watersheds at a cost of Rs.100.64 crore is being carried out.

Nearly 30 to 40 per cent of the work to construct SWD for a distance of 504.68 km across the city at a cost of Rs.653.75 crore is in progress, he said.

“We have identified and disconnected nearly 2,000 illegal sewer connections into the SWD over the past one year. The SWD network would be protected from such connections and we are in the process of identifying more such illegal connections,” Mr.Subramanian said.

On the contractors’ demand for payment of difference in costs of materials following a price hike, he said a meeting with the contractors who have taken up improvement works would be convened in a week to discuss about the issue. The type of foundation for concretising canal bed would be changed wherever necessary. The work would be completed in one and a half year, he added