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Rs. 3000-crore stormwater project for new zones

Thursday, 30 August 2012 04:33 administrator
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The Hindu    30.08.2012

Rs. 3000-crore stormwater project for new zones

Staff Reporter

1,055 km of drains to be constructed as part of scheme to check water-logging; project report by September 20

preparing for rainsWork on stormwater drains is already in progress in the other seven zones including Anna Nagar —Photo: K. Pichumani
 
preparing for rainsWork on stormwater drains is already in progress in the other seven zones including Anna Nagar —Photo: K. Pichumani

The Chennai Corporation is likely to construct a stormwater drain network, totalling nearly 1,055 km, in the eight added zones as part of the measures to prevent water-logging.

The network, which will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs. 3000 crore, will cover four basins of Kosasthalaiyar, Adyar, Cooum and Kovalam. Kosasthalaiyar basin will be divided into watersheds covering zones such as Tiruvottiyur, Manali, Madhavaram and parts of Ambattur. Adyar basin will cover zones of Valasaravakkam and Alandur. Stormwater drain network in watersheds of Cooum basin will prevent water logging in parts of Ambattur zone and Valasaravakkam. New stormwater drain proposals in Kovalam basin will benefit Sholinganallur and Perungudi zones.

The consultant has completed work on final draft of the detailed project report. The civic body has asked residents’ associations of the eight added zones to suggest measures towards any changes in the draft. After taking the suggestions of residents into consideration, the civic body is likely to finalise the detailed project report by September 20. The consultant made a presentation on the project in the presence of senior officials and residents of Chennai Corporation on Tuesday. The list of water-logged stretches in the zones to be covered under the project will be finalised in a few days based on the suggestions.

The government will make a decision pertaining to funding options soon. Areas with severe water-logging are likely to receive priority in implementation of the project.

Construction of many stretches of the 505-km stormwater drains under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) is under way in remaining seven zones of Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Thiru-Vi-Ka-Nagar, Anna Nagar, Teynampet, Kodambakkam and Adyar.

According to a study by the civic body, a chunk of the 2,752-km roads in the newly-added zones have water logging as the existing stormwater drains cover a length of 682.4 km only. The proposed design of new drains in the merged areas will integrate the existing drains.

Among the eight zones, Ambattur has the largest network of stormwater drains with a total length of 177.95 km. Zones such as Tiruvottiyur have very poor stormwater drain network.

Many of the erstwhile town panchayats such as Sholinganallur, Injambakkam, Semmencheri and Uthandi, which have been merged with the Chennai Corporation, had constructed not more than one km of stormwater drain before the merger.

The civic body will focus more on such areas.

Areas covered by erstwhile panchayats such as Neelangarai, Okkiyam Thoraipakkam, Sadayankuppam, Kadapakkam, Theeyamabkkam, Vadaperumbakkam, Surapattu, Kathirvadu and Puthagaram continue to have undeveloped stormwater network even after the merger.

The civic body is likely to use precast technology for the drain project.

Last Updated on Thursday, 30 August 2012 04:43
 

More parks, but Chennai needs green thumb

Friday, 24 August 2012 08:55 administrator
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The Times of India    24.08.2012

More parks, but Chennai needs green thumb

Even if Corporation of Chennai keeps its word and sets up 100 more parks in the suburbs, the city will still not have as many parks as most other metropolises in the country. Chennaiites will have one public green space every 500 metres when its 260 parks increase to 360. But the city will still have fewer parks than Delhi, which has 15,000 parks, Bangalore (721) and Hyderabad (709). There are nearly 1,300 parks in Mumbai but Brihan Mumbai Mahanagar Palika maintains only 209 of them. Per capita park space in Chennai is also low, at 0.41 sqm (recreational green spaces maintained by the Chennai Corporation) which is less than other metros. By that data, it should not come as a surprise that most other cities, with the exception of Mumbai, have more green cover than Chennai. While Chennai has green cover of 4.54%, it is 19% in Delhi, 6.8% in Bangalore and 9.48% in Hyderabad. Only 1.28% of bustling Mumbai is canopied.

Environmentalists and residents in the city say the city needs more parks. They want the authorities to strictly implement the open space reservation (OSR) rules. According to the rules, a building that occupies more than 10,000 sqm are required to earmark 10% of the area as OSR land.

Former Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority chief planner G Dattatri says there are several vacant plots and OSR plots in the city. "It should not be difficult to develop more parks in the city," he said. "But the authorities should also allocate adequate funds for the maintenance of the parks." He says a lack of public spirit in Chennai has led to the deterioration of most of its parks.

Corporation sources said that the parks department faces a shortage of staff and is ill-equipped. "The construction and maintenance of parks is the responsibility of the zonal offices," said a senior corporation official in the civic body's parks department. "We are unable to monitor maintenance closely. A huge shortage of staff is also hampering work."

Another official said lack of a proper system to monitor park maintenance has resulted in most green spaces in the city turning into weed-infested dens for anti-social elements. He says zonal offices have priority to certain wards and ignore others during the identification of sites for the 100 new parks. Dattatri says the civic body should strengthen its parks department. "If there are no officials to monitor the parks, then the money they are allocated will be wasted," he said.

Chennaiites say the city needs more parks because it needs to increase its lung space. "I was shocked to see how many parks there are in Bangalore. In Chennai, on the other hand, it is hard to find a good park," said Roshan Vincent, a student.

Nice places to be, but why don't they remain open?

IT professional Ashok Kumar has always wanted to visit the corporation-owned Panagal Park in T Nagar, but is yet to do so. The timings of the park — 5am to 9am and 4pm to 9pm on working days and 5am to 9pm on holidays — are unsuitable for him.

Many are happy with the Chennai Corporation's announcement of 100 new parks, but want the timings of all parks extended. "There are many parks, but very few use them because of the timings. We are not allowed to sit or walk there after 9am, which is unfair," said Ashok. "When I wake up in the morning, the park is closed. It is shut when I return from work. I am unable to go to the park to read a book, particularly during power cuts," he added.

Others said the 'unsuitable' timings forced them to visit shopping malls and theatres. "If these parks are opened for longer periods, we could save some money by reducing shopping or watching movies. It will also help us breathe some good air," said a city-based student.

When contacted, mayor Saidai S Duraisamy said: "I have received several petitions from the public to extend the timings of the parks. We will seriously consider this proposal and take necessary steps." Some residents said public participation was vital. Exnora International joint secretary R Govinda Raj said: "The civic body should consider involving the public in developing parks. If it extends the timings, more people will be attracted to these parks."

Lakshmi Vasudevan, a homemaker in Adyar, said: "Most parks in other metros function from 5am to 9pm. Here, they are closed by 8.30pm citing some silly reasons. Chennai is safer than many cities and steps should be taken to extend the timings of parks here. An adequate number of security guards should deployed in these parks."

Many people also wanted the corporation to improve maintenance at parks. Nadeshan G of Anna Nagar said parks were in a neglected state. Anantha Naryanan of Ambattur said: "The corporation park in Thiruvengadam near here is in a bad state and no action has been taken despite repeated complaints."


Last Updated on Friday, 24 August 2012 08:56
 

Corporation all set to have a new building

Thursday, 23 August 2012 04:47 administrator
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The Hindu    23.08.2012

Corporation all set to have a new building

Staff Reporter  

The works to be completed in two years; outlay: Rs. 7 crore

A view of the proposed City Municipal Corporation building.– Photo: P. Goutham
 
A view of the proposed City Municipal Corporation building.– Photo: P. Goutham

Work on to construct a new spacious three storeyed administration building for the City Municipal Corporation at an outlay of Rs. 7 crore would commence in two months. It is expected to be completed in two years.

The municipality that celebrated its centenary in 1966 was upgraded as Municipal Corporation in 1994 and was functioning in the old buildings that houses most of the offices in an area spread over 28,267 sq ft.

The new building would come up on 1,25,150 sq ft area that would have a stilt floor for vehicle parking, ground floor and three floors. The ground floor would house information centre, treasury, accounts department, election division, planning division, land survey department, birth and death certificate issue centre and city welfare office.

The first floor would have council hall, offices of Mayor, Deputy Mayor, visitors gallery and Public Relations Office, second floor would have Office of the Commissioner, Executive Engineer, Executive Engineer (Planning), meeting hall and engineering division. The third floor would have electronics division and lunch and rest room.

Special features of the building include, eco-friendly materials like reusable and plastics to be used for construction, energy saving lights and equipments to be installed and rain water harvesting system. The Public Works Department would soon inspect the old block and tender would be called for demolishing the building. Once the process is over, work would begin and expected to be completed in two years time.

Officials said that an additional plan outlay for Rs. 3 crore has been sought from the government for which results are expected shortly.

Last Updated on Thursday, 23 August 2012 04:48
 
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