The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is considering using its own workers to desilt storm-water drains (SWDs) and silt catch pits across the city.
At the Council Meeting on June 24, Zone 14 Ward Committee Chairperson S.V. Ravichandran said many drains in his zone remained clogged even after the allocation of ₹50 lakh for desilting in each ward. The private agency assigned for the work did not perform it properly, he alleged. In reply, Mayor R. Priya said talks were ongoing regarding employing the GCC’s own workers for desilting.
A senior GCC official said 10 additional GCC workers could be deployed in addition to those from the agency outsourced for the desilting operation. He mentioned, “Due to regular desilting work, major stagnation was avoided in the past few months,” the official said.
Fund Crunch
Responding to ward 138 Councillor K. Kannan’s request for SWDs, Ms. Priya, at the meeting, said: “Some works have been completed in the ward, and they are functioning properly. There are not enough funds for SWDs. But the feasibility of constructing SWDs in critical areas using capital funds will be considered after consulting officials.”
Many Councillors, including Standing Committee (Works) Chairman N. Chitrarasu, Standing Committee (Taxation & Finance) Chairperson Sarbajaya Das, and Zone 11 Ward Committee Chairperson V. Rajan said sewage was being let out into the SWDs, which was a major concern across the city.
The Mayor said the issues would be looked into. On the issue of missing links and broken SWDs across the city, including in wards 104, 194, 113, 53, 44, and 16, she said work was expected to be completed all over the city before northeast monsoon.