Illegal bridge works on Buckingham Canal stall restoration drive

The PWD officials claim that they have not approved the project and that even after issuing letters for the past two months to the department concerned to stop the work immediately, the construction project in the waterbody continues.

“Already the water body is half encroached by the public, adding to which TNRDC began the construction work of the minor bridge inside the Buckingham Canal in the stretch between Tiruvanmiyur railway station and SRP road this year. While building the concrete structure, they have broken the boundary wall of the water body, and have dumped sand and mud dumped into it, where the canal has partly disappeared,” said O Unnikrishnan, a social worker from Tiruvanmiyur. “Recently, I noticed that construction work was going on inside the water body, and knew it was not the restoration work by PWD. Later, I learned it was a bridge project by TNRDC which was taken up without legal approval by the department concerned. While questioning about the project, they argued that it was a bridge project under process, and there is nothing wrong in constructing it inside the water body,” he added.

Last week, the social worker filed an RTI to PWD requiring the width of the Buckingham Canal of this particular stretch, responding to which the PWD claimed that they have sent a letter to the TNRDC, requesting a report to prevent the encroachment in the respective area, agreeing to the intrusion.

“There is no action taken by the PWD because they do not have a clear-cut plan to remove the encroachment. After multiple calls and complaints, they don’t have a proper reason or any steps taken to stop the work immediately. They also said that they are not empowered to give legal notice to TNRDC, but issued a formal letter and the work is still being continued,” said Kumaresan, another resident of Tiruvanmiyur.

Speaking to DT Next, A Jayakumari, Executive Engineer, PWD confirmed that TNRDC has not taken permission from them for constructing this minor bridge inside the Buckingham Canal in that stretch. “We have been giving formal letters to TNRDC since August to stop the construction work immediately, as it is not legal to build inside a water body.”