CHENNAI: With the northeast monsoon approaching, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is racing to complete the last leg of its storm water drain (SWD) works, with nearly 1,314 km of the 1,385 km network taken up since 2022 completed so far.
Officials put the overall progress at around 95%, with the remaining works targeted for completion by the end of September. The projects, taken up under various schemes, have cost Rs 6,066.80 crore.
Among the major projects, 651.10 km of the 652.40-km Kosasthalaiyar Basin network funded by the Asian Development Bank was completed at a cost of Rs 3,059 crore. The KfW-funded Kovalam Basin project completed 272.80 km of its planned 310 km, leaving 37.20 km.
Under the Capital Fund, 120.10 km of the planned 131.70 km was completed at Rs 470.50 crore. However, the Arcot Road project has emerged as a major bottleneck, with only 7.20 km of the planned 18 km completed under the Rs 103-crore project.
Deputy Mayor Magesh Kumar said, “The delay in the Arcot Road work has worsened congestion along the busy stretch.”
R Ramarao, president, Greater Chennai Contractors Association, attributed the slowdown to “coordination issues between departments and delays in shifting TNPDCL electricity boxes and cables”.
GCC Commissioner GS Sameeran said, “The police have restricted construction work on Arcot Road to between midnight and 4am because of traffic congestion.”
The 18-km stretch has been divided into 18 packages. The drainage system is designed to divert water partly into the Virugambakkam canal and then the Cooum, and partly through Porur into the Adyar. As a contingency measure, GCC has planned to deploy 100-HP pumps to transfer water into nearby SWDs around Porur and along the stretch near 6 Metro Rail stations between Porur and Nandambakkam.
The Corporation is also facing concerns over missing links in the drainage network. “Though the GCC has completed SWD works in several pockets of south Chennai, these drains have not been properly connected. As a result, water does not reach the canals and instead spills onto vacant land and roads,” said Harsha Koda, co-founder, Federation of OMR Residents Welfare Association. It has identified 105 locations where SWD connections are missing. Of these, drainage links have been provided at 37 locations, while work is yet to be completed at the remaining 68 locations
Residents have also flagged missing links in Jai Hind Nagar, Sannathi Street, Adi Dravidar Colony 8th Street, Erneshwarar Nagar 3rd Street, Bajanai Koil Street and Mettu Street in Ward 4, many streets in Ward 195, including Streets 1st-4th in Parthasarathy Nagar, Streets 1st-11th in Kumaran Kudil Nagar and Streets 1st-5th in Raju Nagar.
Sameeran, who inspected the Adyar estuary on Wednesday, said that the Water Resources Department (WRD) was desilting all 4 major river mouths at Ennore near Kosasthalaiyar, Napier Bridge near Cooum, Besant Nagar near Adyar and Muttukadu near Kovalam. The WRD has sanctioned 200 desilting works at Rs 42 crore in Chennai’s waterbodies including Adyar, Cooum and Buckingham canal, with around 48% nearing completion.
The GCC has identified 219 vulnerable zones for the coming monsoon, including stretches of OMR and ECR that witnessed flooding in 2015, 2021 and 2023. It has inspected 215 relief centres, including marriage halls, multi-purpose halls and schools. The civic body has also identified 111 kitchens supported by Amma Canteens and 44 central kitchens normally used for the Chief Minister’s breakfast scheme. More than 1,320 motors, including newly hired 150-200 HP pumps, have been kept ready.
The GCC has 38 boats of its own, while another 258 boats have been tied up with the Fisheries Department and local fishermen. An advance of Rs 5 lakh has been released to each Assistant Director of Fisheries to avoid delays in payments during emergency operations, Sameeran said.
However, councillors have raised concerns over preparedness. Ward 4 councillor R Jayaram alleged that preparedness this year was slower compared to 2025 when motor pumps were kept ready in low-lying areas ahead of the monsoon. “Ward committee meetings were held regularly earlier. Now, only one meeting has been held in the last two months. No full-fledged desilting works have been undertaken,” he stated.
The forecasting committee that met Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Tuesday has indicated an increased likelihood of normal to above-normal northeast monsoon rainfall, while cautioning that rainfall could vary considerably across locations and periods.
The ECMWF Seasonal Forecast System 5, issued in August for October-December, has also projected above-normal precipitation over Tamil Nadu and neighbouring southern regions, with rainfall anomalies of 50-200 mm in parts.