The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) plans to clear encroachments near the canal at the Erukkanchery High road in Vyasarpadi, which falls under the Tondiarpet Zone.

Residents living close to the canal say garbage are disposed into the water body regularly, as conservancy workers are not deployed for some localities there.

Kaveri, whose house is close to the canal said, “A few days ago, I found a conservancy worker trying to dump waste in the canal and stopped him. He did not return after that. But, workers and sweepers do not visit here for waste collection. So, residents throw waste in the canal. Moreover, waste from the Vyasarpadi market also flows down to this canal. The channels get clogged due to this.”

Officials who inspected the canal said illegal sewage are being discharged from the encroached households, and a few wedding halls in the neighbourhood. “The walls were raised, but people have broken them and installed pipes,” they said.

“The wedding halls will be penalised. One side of the encroachments, where connections can be diverted to the sewage line under the main road, can be cleared. We are looking into means to remove the other illegal sewage lines after looking for viable connection possibilities,” a zonal official said.

The official added that shops on the CC Canal bridge near the Moolakadai junction that dump garbage into the canal will be sealed.

The earlier wide canal now has a road that was initially its bund. This connects to the CC Canal, which is small, and then to the Buckingham Canal. Rest of the canals here are connected to the Buckingham Canal, so inflow is slow, officials added.

Commissioner inspects works

According to a press release, GCC Commissioner G.S. Sameeran inspected development work worth ₹303.13 crore across Tondiarpet, Thiru. Vi. Ka. Nagar, and Royapuram zones on Monday. The release said the Commissioner inspected the site for the Chief Minister’s Mini Stadium to be built at an estimated cost of ₹3 crore near Erukkancheri High Road.

The release added that inspections were carried out at the Vyasarpadi canal, where a retaining wall and desilting works are under way at a cost of ₹3 crore, and at the Captain Cotton Canal (CC Canal) in Mullai Nagar, where a flood protection wall will be constructed at ₹9.20 crore.

To prevent water stagnation during monsoon, works to install three water tanks with a total capacity of 9.446 lakh litres and 400 horsepower motor pumps at a cost of ₹3.06 crore near the Mullai Nagar flyover, burial ground, and Goods Shed Road North were inspected, the release mentioned.

The release stated that inspections included the ₹13.32 crore stormwater drain work connecting Stephenson Road, Ganesapuram Road, and Sundaram Nagar main roads to the Goods Shed pond, and the ₹226.55 crore high-level flyover work above the Ganesapuram subway.

A modern slaughterhouse under construction at a cost of ₹45 crore on Ambedkar College Road in Pulianthope, a modern cattle shelter near the Basin Bridge, and a newly established animal birth control centre at Kannappar Thidal were also inspected.