GCC conducts mass clean-up drive in lakes, canals

CHENNAI: To prevent flood inundation during the monsoon, the Greater Chennai Corporation conducted a mass clean-up drive on water bodies and canals in Chennai city.

This month alone, 139 metric tonnes (MT) of garbage and 248 MT of debris were removed in 15 zones on Saturday.

In a meeting conducted by the Additional Chief Secretary (Municipal Administration and Water supply department) on Oct 3, authorities were instructed to clean all the floating garbage accumulated on the banks of the canals and water bodies and continue the drive till December.

“A team in each zone comprising assistant executive engineer of Solid Waste Management (SWM), concerned division AES/JES, conservancy supervisor, animator, SBM Supervisor, Ramky/Urbaser supervisor (in outsourced Zones) should be formed to conduct a special drive from October 8-10,” noted SWM circular to all Zones.

It also stated that works should be done with machinery and vehicles required to remove garbage and debris accumulated on either side of the banks, inside the canal and all water bodies to ensure free flow of water during the rainy season.

On October 8, during the mass cleaning abstract from Zone 1-15, 14 water bodies including canals, rivers, odais, nullahs, ponds, and temple tanks were cleaned by 1,564 workers deployed for the drive. A total of 139 MT of garbage, of which, 20.20 MT of garbage was collected from Zone 14 (Perungudi), followed by Zone 4 (Tondiarpet) which had 18.15 MT.

The GCC also removed at least 248 MT of debris. The highest was in Zone 10 (Kodambakkam) with 68 MT of construction materials. And 74.40 MT of debris was cleared from Zone 8 (Anna Nagar).

Authorities stated that Rs 19,000 fine was imposed in the city zones.

This clean-up drive will be conducted every second and fourth Saturdays till the end of December.