Greenery and recreational facilities to soon adorn banks of Mambalam canal

According to a Chennai Corporation official, the Mambalam Canal has been segregated into five sections for easier execution of work and five different tenders have been floated for each of the five sections. 

“The project will be implemented at a cost of over Rs 62 crore by the stormwater department. A detailed project report has been prepared. Under the project, we will seal the illegal sewage inlets that drain wastewater into the floodwater canal,” the official said. 

The civic body will construct flood protection and retaining walls with canal lining to demarcate and maintain the boundary of the canal. Walkways and cycle tracks will also come along the canal. Apart from these, the civic body will create a park on the banks of the canal and green pockets at several spots. Children’s play areas would also come up. 

The project will be implemented for 1,750 meters between Vinothya Main Road and Theagaraya Road. Mambalam canal starts near Valluvar Kottam and passes through T Nagar and CIT Nagar before draining into the Adyar river near the Nandanam golf course. Mambalam Canal is one of the 15 canals in the city maintained by the Corporation. The total length of the canal is around 6 kilometres. 

Initially, the civic body had proposed to implement the project under the Smart City Mission, however, the plan was modified to carry out the project with the capital fund. 

Meanwhile, the civic body has plans to implement a similar project along the banks of Buckingham Canal on Rajiv Gandhi IT Expressway in Taramani between Kasturba Nagar MRTS and Tiruvanmiyur MRTS. 

Under the project, we will create walkway and cycle tracks apart from greeneries using Miyawaki plantation method. The project would come on 2.2 Kilometre stretch and tenders for the project were floated already.