The Chennai Corporation has set new deadlines for the completion of work on the extension of the north and south parts of the Buckingham Canal. During the Corporation Council Meet held recently, it was informed that the the work on the canal, which was supposed to be extended by 350 metres on both parts, had not been completed yet, and would be completed within March next year.

Replying to a letter of request submitted by councillor of Ward 38, Santhanam, the Council on Friday passed two resolutions, fixing the new deadlines for completion of the work. It was informed that the extension project faced several hurdles and this had caused the delay in the work to stagnate. Problems such as presence of Metro Water pipelines, EB lines and roads in the proposed extension routes hampered the process. There was also restriction laid down by the traffic police, who allowed the work to be done only during the night. 

It was further informed that while 250 metres of the proposed 350 metres extension had been completed in the southern part of the canal, work on the remaining 100 metres could not be completed because of the presence of high tension cables in the area. Hence, an extended deadline of March 31, 2014 has been given for work on the south end. However, the new deadline for the work on the northern parts of the canal have been set for December 31, 2013.