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First of its kind move by WRD in Chennai has caught the attention of many now!!
Posted on: 15/Apr/2022 10:05:17 AM
For widening the Adyar River in southern parts belonging to Chennai, the Water Resources Department or WRD would be acquiring 20.5 acres of land between Thiruneermalai and Anakaputhur. What is amazing here is that this would be the first of its kind move to prevent flooding during the rainy season. This has caught the attention of many now. It is a known fact that the 42.5km Adyar River contributes to the estuarine ecosystem in Chennai.
It is now revealed that for the first time in the history of WRD a private land would be acquired to widen a river in the state. An amount of Rs 70.05 crores has been allotted by the Tamil Nadu govt for this project. This was highlighted by a senior official belonging to WRD.
Out of Rs 70.05 crores, 50percent would be spent on compensating the landowners and remaining amount would be used to implement flood mitigation project. In a few days of time, a GO would be issued and a tender process etc would be started by the WRD.
It was later explained by another official belonging to WRD that the total length of the river was 42km from Adanur near Tambaram and flows through Mannivakkam, Varadharajapuram, Mudichur, Thiruneermalai, Anakaputhur, Kaatupakkam and Manapakkam before draining into the sea. The river must have a width of 60feet to 200 feet and this was as per the government maps.
The actual width of the River between Thiruneermalai and Anaghaputhur is below 100 feet. He added that when the river is full of water, then controlling the floods would not be possible. He concluded that many persons would get affected due to flooding and hence the main reason for procuring private lands was to widen the river.
Strengthening of bunds and raising walls would be carried out once the land was acquired. It is worthy to mention that there are 7 high tension towers in the area and therefore a wall needs to be built as a precautionary measure. This was according to an officer belonging to WRD. Till now, as many as 4500 encroachments have been removed from the Adyar River and steps are being taken to evict 5000 encroachments.
