Corpn sanctions linking canals to drain flood water into Buckingham

“The project will be carried out under the Smart City Mission funds. The sanction for the project was recently given in the Chennai Smart City Board meeting. The canals will be interlinked at a cost of Rs 14 crore,” a Chennai Corporation official said.

According to the official, North Avenue Canal was draining excess water from Ambattur lake into Korattur lake. Due to the rampant letting of sewerage from residents and industries on North Avenue Canal, the officials had blocked the canal from draining into Korattur lake. “We have extended North Avenue Canal up to the railway land near Korattur railway station. The railway construction work is halted due to issues in acquiring the railway land. Owing to the incompleted work, water stagnates near the railway track. Connecting the canals will prevent water stagnation in the railway land,” the official added.

As per the plan, the 1,200-meter-long and five-meter-wide canal would be constructed along the railway track. The total length of North Avenue Canal, including the to-be-extended portion, is more than 8km while TVS Canal is 3km-long. The flood water collected by the North Avenue Canal and TVS Canal would be drained into Buckingham Canal.

It is learnt that the railways have agreed to provide land for the construction of the canal with a condition of dismantling the canal whenever railway plans for the expansion of railway tracks.

“Initially, the railways demanded Rs 29 crore for the land. However, we managed to convince them as the canal will help in controlling floods on their land,” the official said.