Over 16k encroachments removed from waterways

The State government has evicted more than 16,000 encroachments from the banks of Adyar and Cooum Rivers as a part of Chennai Rivers Restoration project.

According to Commissioner of Revenue Administration J Radhakrishnan, 27,998 encroachments have been identified on the riverbanks. “Of the total identified encroachments, we have removed as many as 16,405 encroachments. Measures have been taken to remove the remaining encroachments,” he said.

Radhakrishnan along with Chennai Corporation officials and Public Works Department engineers had inspected the restoration works in Adyar river on Saturday. Of the total 27,998 encroachments, 11,400 were identified on the banks of Adyar river and 16,598 encroachments were identified along Cooum banks. Of them, 4,515 and 11,890 encroachments have been removed from Adyar and Cooum respectively. The State government utilised the funds from the Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust to undertake the Adyar River Restoration project at a cost of Rs 94.76 crore and eco-restoration of Cooum River project at Rs 93.57 crore to restore these waterways into their old glory.

Under the Adyar River Restoration project, the authorities are desilting 25 km of Adyar river starting from Tiruneermalai to Adyar estuary. Concrete bunds have been proposed under the project for a total length of 1.8 kilometres.

“The works were started in June and the works between Maraimalai Nagar bridge to the estuary started in October after receiving CRZ clearance,” a press statement said. Similarly, eco-restoration of Cooum river is undergoing for a length of 27 km, the statement said, adding that 80 per cent of works have already been completed.