Chennai Buzz: Rainfall, groundwater data to go online | Fifth reservoir in Chennai | GCC to set up think-tank …and more

Updates on key happenings in the city over the past week.

Rainfall, groundwater data to be available online

Chennai Metrowater Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) has expedited work to patch the automatic water gauge and digital water recorder devices. This will help inform residents of the city about variations in the groundwater table as well as the volume of rainfall in their respective neighbourhoods through data available on the CMWSSB website. 

According to officials, the rainfall data would be useful to determine how it impacts the level of groundwater table, its quality and also assess over-exploitation of water as it happens. The agency also intends to distribute water based on the requirement in each locality. 

Source: The Hindu

Chennai gets its fifth reservoir

A fifth reservoir to quench the city’s needs will soon be put to use. The reservoir is situated in Thervoy Kandigai. This will serve the city in addition to the four existing reservoirs — Satyamurti Sagar at Poondi, Cholavaram, Red Hills and Chembarambakkam. The reservoir will help manage Chennai’s drinking water needs. It is to be noted that no new reservoir had been built for the city for 76 years prior to this.

The new reservoir, built at a cost of Rs 380 crore, is located about 50 kms from the city and will store water from Krishna river. An official statement read that the reservoir will supply 66 million litres a day besides supplying water for irrigating 700 acres of land.

Source: The Hindu

Think-tank to be set up by GCC

A think tank will be established at the Ripon Building to analyse data and come up with solutions to resolve various civic problems of Chennai. Chennai Smart City Limited has given a green signal to employing a data officer and an innovation officer to lead the efforts.

The civic body has conducted several studies in partnership with IIT-Madras and several other non-governmental organisations to gather the data. The corporation and smart city has data on parks, traffic, usage of corporation infrastructure and green cover among other parameters pertaining to life in the city.

The data officer will be responsible for the management of and updates to the data and the innovation officer will provide solutions to challenges faced in the process. 

Source: The Times of India

Chitlapakkam: Court asks PWD to hear residents’ concerns before demolition

The Madras High Court refused to provide a stay on the Public Works Department’s (PWD) decision to raze the houses on “Eri poromboke” land in Chitlapakkam. The bench ordered the PWD to hear the concerns of the residents who are opposed to the demolition and take a final decision within four weeks.

While the PWD claims that the land is marked as ‘Eri Poramboke’, the residents contest that they have been residing there for over six decades. The counsel for residents argued that Chitlapakkam neighbourhood has entirely been marked as government poramboke as per the land records. The PWD on its part stated that the move is in accordance with the law.

Source: The New Indian Express

[Compiled by Bhavani Prabhakar]

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