Chennai Metro Water is carrying out desilting works in various parts
of the city in a bid to ensure that sewers do not get clogged during
rains resulting in inundation of streets.
The move comes in the
wake of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s instructions to officials to
take precautionary measures to meet the challenges of the monsoon in the
city. Metro Water officials said that they would be desilting manholes
and sewer main using jet rodding and desilting machines.
A Metro
Water spokesman said that such ‘trouble spots’ had been identified in
the city and added that Metro Water would be desilting about 52,000
metres of the sewer main and 1,800 manholes using 29 jet rodding and 29
desilting machines.
Metro Water managing director B Chandramohan
inpected desilting works at nine places including Visalakshi Nagar,
Gandhipuram and Mambalam areas.
The sewage generated from the
households of Chennai city travels through 3,643 km of sewer main and is
pumped through 219 sewage pumping stations to the 12 sewage treatment
plants located at six places and treated as per the norms specified by
the Pollution Control Board before being let into Chennai city’s
waterways, the officials stated.
Metro Water said that solid waste
from households and commercial complexes and the silt entering along
with rainwater during the monsoon causes obstructions in the system.
The
public have been advised not to let solid waste into sewers as it would
block the system by not allowing rainwater to drain through the
manholes, resulting in accumulation of silt.
