Deepen Adyar river to prevent flood: Varadarajapuram residents

CHENNAI: Federation of Varadarajapuram Welfare Associations has urged Chief Minister MK Stalin, who inspected the stormwater drain and cut and cover canal works underway at Varadarajapuram, to instruct the officials to take up deepening and widening of the Adyar river before the onset of Northeast Monsoon.

In the memorandum submitted to the chief minister, FEDOVWA president V Rajasekaran and general secretary T Santhanakrishnan said that cut and cover canal works from Somamangalam to Adyar river via Rayappa Nagar is currently underway but the Adyar river deepening and widening works has not started yet.

“People are living in fear of floods following the release of 750 cusecs of water released from Chembarambakkam lake on Adyar after three days of rain. Hence, we request you to direct the concerned department to immediately take up Adyar deepening work, increasing the bund height by 10 feet and constructing protection wall at the bund areas prone to erosion, ” they said.

The residents federation also demanded the setting up of a sewage recycling plant on both sides of the river to prevent the mixing of raw sewage into it. They also demanded the permanent erection of 300 hp motor pumps at Asthalakshmi Nagar, Bhuvaneswari Nagar, Santhaniketan and Sriram Nagar Extension to pump out rainwater into the river. They sought to relay roads, streetlights, parks and water tanks in various localities.