WRD ties up with AIIB for 2nd phase of flood mitigation

“In the second phase, the work will begin along Adyar river near Varatharajapuram and Somangalam. The work would involve creating barrages and raising flood banks of the waterway to store floodwater. It would also cover the Paravanar and Coleroon basins in Cuddalore. Once the work is started, it is expected to be completed by six months,” said A Palaniswamy, Executive Engineer, WRD.

The government has allotted Rs 850 crore for the project but due to shortage of funds, they have tied up with Asian Infrastructure Investment Development Project and would be receiving 70 per cent of the fund for the project, he added.

The project includes constructing canals to bridge missing links between lakes, improvement of surplus channels andcreating reservoirs.

“After the second phase is completed, a reservoir to hold 1,300 million cubic feet of water supplying 100 million litres of water daily in the city would be taken up. We have submitted proposals for the third phase of long-term mitigation work in the city and suburban areas,”said Palaniswamy. The first phase was completed in 2017 at a cost of Rs 100 crore and a reservoir across the Orathur tributary of Adyar River near Sriperumbudur was created. After the recent rainfall, water has already been stored in the reservoir.