Chennai Corporation carries mass cleaning at 817 parks ahead of North-East monsoon

CHENNAI: Ahead of the northeast monsoon, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has intensified mass cleaning at 817 city parks on Friday.

The zonal level officials are instructed to list out on the damaged footpaths, play equipment and non-functional fountains at the parks, and rectify it immediately, said Mayor R Priya while inspecting the mass cleaning carried out at Sivan Park in KK Nagar.

"During Chennai floods 2023 due to cyclone Michaung, at least 10,000 metric tonnes of garbage were collected across the city especially near abandoned vehicles and water bodies. To prevent such a situation during the upcoming monsoon season, we have intensified mass cleaning in Chennai city. Earlier, it was focused on bus route roads where abandoned vehicles and waste were removed from dumped on the roadside," Priya told reporters.

"With only a month away for the onset of the northeast monsoon, the mass cleaning has been intensified at the parks. We have instructed the authorities to make a list on the damaged properties which should be estimated and rectified at the earliest," she added.

The mass cleaning carried out in 817 parks - 165 maintained by GCC, 88 parks maintained through adoption and 616 outsourcing parks from 6 am to 12 pm on Friday. In addition, the Chennai Corporation is focused on Miyawaki forests especially in north Chennai.

On the other hand, the civic body is yet to get a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the police to auction the removed abandoned vehicles in the city.

Commenting on white paper report regarding the Cooum River restoration seeked by Congress MP Karthik Chidambaram, the mayor said that Cooum river restoration project involves GCC, Water Resources Department (WRD) and Chennai River Restoration Trust (CRRT). We have sent a letter to CRRT and requested to issue a report on the same.