Chennai
As part of the river restoration project, encroachments were already removed and the rivers were widened to prevent flooding during the monsoon. However, even though these efforts were taken, there was flooding in many parts of the city because of the intense rainfall.
“So, to avoid flooding in the future during monsoon, we are planning to widen the waterbodies and increase the carrying capacity of the rivers. The proposal will soon be submitted to the government to commence the project,” said a senior WRD official.
Meanwhile, after facing hurdles in evicting many families who live on riverbanks because they hold patta for the land, the officials are planning to get the patta cancelled. “Earlier, the land was used for agriculture for which it had patta. But now there are buildings constructed on the riverbanks. Because of these land deeds, we are unable to remove the encroachments near the waterbodies. So we are planning to cancel patta for lands on riverbanks before starting the widening project,” the official added.
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