CHENNAI: With the northeast monsoon approaching, Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has stepped up preparedness measures, including desilting of stormwater drains, clearing waterways and deploying more than 1,300 motor pumps to tackle waterlogging.
GCC Commissioner Dr G.S. Sameeran, inspected the ongoing monsoon preparedness works at the Adyar estuary on Wednesday.
According to the Corporation, desilting has been completed along 1,102 km of the city’s 1,683-km stormwater drain network. Work is continuing on the remaining stretches.
In the first phase, all 1,10,211 silt catch pits were desilted. As many as 65,076 pits have been covered in the second phase so far.
Drain connectivity works have also been taken up at 105 missing locations, covering 922 metres. Work has been completed at 37 locations and is under way at the remaining 68.
The Corporation said desilting and removal of water hyacinth had been undertaken in 44 waterways maintained by GCC, 13 canals maintained by the water resources department, and the Cooum and Adyar rivers and Buckingham canal, to improve the flow of rainwater.
Desilting has also been taken up in drains passing through 28 railway minor bridges, with work completed in six so far.
Improvement works have been taken up over 8,439 metres in the Captain Cotton canal, Secretariat Colony canal, Otteri nullah and Virugambakkam canal. Of this, work covering 6,977 metres has been completed.
Work has also been undertaken in 83 water bodies, with improvements completed in 51 and work continuing in 32.
The Corporation said Rs. 100 crore has been allocated for northeast monsoon preparedness works in the city. It has kept 109 water collection tanks equipped with motor pumps ready, while three additional tanks are under construction and are expected to be completed by the end of September.
A total of 1,320 motor pumps are planned for deployment to remove accumulated rainwater during the monsoon. This includes 650 GCC-owned diesel and electric motors and 670 rented motors, comprising 500 with a capacity of 100 HP and 170 above 100 HP.
Pumps have also been installed in 19 GCC subways and five highways department subways to drain rainwater that may accumulate.
For emergency rescue and relief operations, GCC has kept 36 boats ready, while another 256 boats are available with the fisheries department. The Corporation has also prepared 215 relief centres and 111 community
kitchens.
As part of preparations to deal with tree-related incidents, branches of vulnerable trees have been pruned. Between January 1 and September 21, branches of 60,141 trees were pruned, the Corporation said.
The civic body has also kept specialised equipment ready, including amphibious machines, robotic multipurpose excavators, amphibious excavators, hydraulic tree-cutting machines, truck-mounted cranes, hydraulic ladders, excavators and 60 skid-steer loaders.
An online platform has been created to register volunteers for emergency relief work. Monitoring is being carried out through integrated command and control centres at the GCC headquarters and its three regional offices.
The Corporation’s 1913 helpline will function round-the-clock to receive complaints during the monsoon. Complaints received through the helpline and social media platforms will be forwarded for immediate action, GCC said.
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