DPR submitted on canal beautification.

After much delay, things appear to be falling in place for the much-boasted canal beautification works in the city as the Irrigation Department has submitted a Detailed Project Report (DPR) to the government on the works to be undertaken and issues to be addressed.

The DPR was prepared on the basis of a thesis presented by K. Srivalli, an M.Tech student from Mysore University. She bagged the Indian Town Planning Institute's best thesis award for 2013. According to the project, authorities plan to have speed boating facility, open restaurants and walkways at feasible locations on the three canals, besides rainbow water fountain at Krishna East canal and Ganesh temple footbridge and few other recreation facilities. The estimated cost of the project is Rs. 13 crore.

The government had instructed the irrigation department to prepare a DPR on the canal front development, which is a process of developing canal front through grading, providing drainage access, utilities, recreational spaces, landscaping and pathways with links to other open space networks and pedestrian and bicycles.

Senior authorities will now scrutinise all the aspects mentioned in the project and take a call. There are quite a few issues to be addressed and lot of coordination is required among different departments for taking up the works, says a senior irrigation official.

THE HINDU