The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : At last, canal desilting work put on the rails

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 04, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

At last, canal desilting work put on the rails

R. Srikanth

Ainsley Canal being cleaned at a cost of Rs. 7.12 lakh

A DREAM COME TRUE: The Ainsley canal near Duncan Road is being desilted after a long time. — Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam

CHENNAI : The long-neglected Ainsley Canal has finally received due attention from the Southern Railway administration.

The railway has started work on desilting of the canal using earth moving machine and removal of weeds from the canal from the last week of November.

The canal stretching for a length of 3.3 km had become a breeding ground for mosquitoes resulting in increase in malarial infection in Railway Colony, Ayanavaram.

A railway official said people lacking civic sense were dumping garbage and were letting sewage water illegally into the canal. This resulted in vast growth of weeds in the canal causing flooding problems during rainy season as wild vegetation blocked free flow of rainwater from the canal. Moreover, the mosquito menace was rampant throughout the year.

The officials are planning to take up with the Chennai Corporation a proposal to find a permanent solution to prevent indiscriminate dumping of garbage and letting of sewage water into the canal by residents living along the canal.

The canal originating at the eastern end of the Villivakkam railway station passes through Ayanavaram, Integral Coach Factory, Railway Hospital and Pananthope Colony before draining into Otteri Nullah.

The desilting of the canal has been taken up at a cost of Rs. 7.12 lakh and is planned to be completed by December-end.

Even before taking up a full-fledged desilting work, the railway administration had spent Rs. 1.20 lakh for removing weeds as temporary measures.

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