Reclaim Chennai’s waterways, say ‘no’ to floods!

by June 24, 2016 Environment

Reclaim Chennai’s waterways, say ‘no’ to floods!

There are close to 3600 water bodies in Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kanchipuram to store and recharge water and channelize excess water into the sea. However, the indiscriminate development of real estate on and along these water bodies and channels in the absence of any regulation has spelt disaster for the city.

Rampant violations of building norms, maladministration in maintenance of our water bodies and the canals connecting them, improper planning and failure to construct new canals in the low lying areas, all contributed to the suffering of lakhs of people last December.

But we must realise that as citizens, we too have failed in our duty of enforcing accountability on the Government and pressurising relevant authorities to do their duty. On June 26, we, at Arappor (www.arappor.org) and Magasool (www.magasool.org) invite you all to our event “Reclaiming our Waterways” where we shall take a fresh pledge to do our bit as citizens and ensure that the Government takes necessary action to prevent the recurrence of a similar disaster as last year’s.

This is an effort involving hundreds of citizens wherein we take actionable efforts towards reclaiming our water bodies, which is critical both for conserving water as well as preventing floods. After the meet, we aim to come up with a clear actionable policy that the Government needs to work on to achieve that goal in the next two months.

Agenda

  • Arappor and Magasool will present their research on how Chennai’s water bodies have changed over the years and the preliminary findings regarding reasons behind the flooding of certain areas last December
  • Professor Janakarajan of the Madras Institute of Development Studies will present to enable an overall understanding of the water bodies of Chennai, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur.
  • A discussion with citizens followed by an actionable survey plan on specific stretches of water bodies and channels

Come and join hands towards this citizen initiative to make our city flood-proof.

Date: 26/6/16, Sunday

Time: 4.30 Pm to 7.30 Pm

Place: Madras School of Social Work (MSSW), Casa Major Road, Egmore

Sections:

About Meenakshi Ramesh

Meenakshi Ramesh is involved in civic initiatives in Chennai and anchors the Chennai edition of Citizen Matters. She has also worked with Pratham. She can be reached at meenakshi@citizenmatters.in
Read more by Meenakshi Ramesh

Comments:

  1. Joseph Thomas says:
    June 28, 2016 at 9:39 am

    De-silting of tanks and reservoirs will increase their storage capacity. Thereby, both drought and floods will be mitigated. Further, there will be no need for the third de-salination plant at Chennai. The money saved can be better used for de-silting tanks and reservoirs.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Similar Story

Commuters, vendors bear the brunt of rising air pollution in Chennai’s Ambattur

by January 13, 2026 Environment
IIT-M’s Project Kaatru finds high PM2.5 levels at Ambattur Estate, Padi flyover and Dairy Road, exposing residents to dust and pollution daily.

Commuters passing through Ambattur Industrial Estate inevitably find a layer of dust coating their vehicles, faces, and hands. For Lalitha*, a domestic worker employed at a high-rise apartment near Padi flyover’s Saravana Stores, the last two weeks of December have been especially unbearable. "Dust, dust, dust everywhere," she says, coughing through a persistent cold. At 6 pm, when the rush hour begins, it takes her nearly 30 minutes by bus to cover the 5 km journey home. The ride to the Dunlop area is punctuated by pollution, blaring horns, and endless traffic snarls. “It should take 15 minutes usually, but…

Continue reading

Similar Story

முதல்வர் சீக்கிரம் அடிக்கல் நாட்ட வேண்டும் என்பதற்காக அறிவியல்  ஆய்வுகளைப் புறந்தள்ளுவதா?

by January 9, 2026 Environment
CRZ clearance has been granted for a new drinking water reservoir in the naturally formed coastal salt marshes in Chengalpattu near Chennai.

செங்கல்பட்டு மாவட்டம், திருப்போரூர் மற்றும் திருக்கழுக்குன்றம் வட்டங்களுக்குட்பட்ட வருவாய் கிராமங்களில், இயற்கையாக அமைந்துள்ள கழுவேலி, உப்பங்கழி நீர்நிலையில், புதிய குடிநீர் நீர்த்தேக்கம் அமைக்க CRZ அனுமதி வழங்கியுள்ளது மாநில கடற்கரை ஒழுங்குமுறை மண்டல ஆணையம். இத்திட்டத்தின் முதல் கட்டத்தில் நெம்மேலி, கிருஷ்ணகாரனை, தண்டலம், பட்டிபுலம், திருப்போரூர், மாமல்லபுரம், சலுவான்குப்பம், பையனூர் ஆகிய வருவாய் கிராமங்களுக்குட்பட்ட 4375 ஏக்கர் பரப்பளவில் வருவாய்த்துறை, நீர்வளத்துறைக்குச் சொந்தமான இடங்களில் நீர்த்தேக்கம் அமைக்கத் திட்டமிடப்பட்டுள்ளது. 1.655TMC கொள்ளளவு கொண்ட இந்நீர்த்தேக்கம் மேற்கூறிய கிராமங்களைச் சேர்ந்த 50 ஆயிரத்துக்கும் மேற்பட்ட மக்களின் குடிநீர்த் தேவையைப் பூர்த்தி செய்யும் எனவும் அருகாமை கிராமங்களின் வெள்ள பாதிப்பைக் குறைக்கும் எனவும் அரசுத் தரப்பில் கூறப்படுகிறது. Map showing components of the Kovalam reservoir. Pic courtesy: Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department. இத்திட்டத்திற்கான விண்ணப்பத்தை 17.11.2025 அன்று  தொழில் நுட்ப  வல்லுநர் குழு பரிசீலித்தது. 20.11.2025 அன்று  மாநில கடற்கரை  மண்டல ஆணையம் விண்ணப்பத்தைை பரிசீலித்து CRZ அனுமதிக்கு பரிந்துரைக்கிறது.…

Continue reading