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Why has there been a delay in the eco restoration project on the Cooum River in Chennai?
Posted on: 11/Aug/2022 9:47:33 AM
The integration eco-restoration project in a portion of the Cooum River in Chennai has been delayed and WRD has been finding it difficult to execute this. Point is that clearing the commercial encroachment near Arumbakkam has been an issue now for WRD.
The officers from WRD have mentioned that nearly 80pecent of the work was over in the 17km stretch from Maduravoyal under the aegis of CRRT. Since the year 2015, the removal of commercial structures that are present upon the Cooum River at Arumbakkam has been pending. There were also obstructions in other stretches also like Greams Road and Padikuppam etc but what was more concerning was that about 850m portion of Cooum River near Arumbakkam has been waiting to get improved.
It must be remembered WRD in early 2022 had cleared as many as 486 encroached structures and shifted the residents. The Cooum River could be widened up to 80m on the stretch.
The officers from WRD concluded that only when the commercial encroachments were cleared then the river`s original width of 100m could be restored. The delay in implementing the eco-restoration of Cooum River near Arumbakkam was mainly due to court litigations and stiff opposition. Information is that WRD is waiting to retrieve an encroached portion running for a length of minimum 300m at Arumbakkam.
The spill over from Cooum River has been responsible for the flooding every year at NSK Nagar. Various works that were delayed till now are demarcation of boundary, river widening, strength of bund etc.
