Restoration of Muttukadu backwaters to pick up steam.

In an effort to save Muttukadu backwaters from pollution, the Municipal Administration and Water Supply department proposes to fund works to dredge the mouth of South Buckingham canal near Muttukadu.

At a meeting held recently, the MAWS had agreed to provide Rs.1 crore towards dredging the mouth and keeping the canal’s mouth open for a width of 100 metres to enable tidal action. Officials of the Water Resources Department said following a government order, work will soon be taken up in the river mouth in a month’s time. This will prevent sand bar formation near the river mouth.

Muttukadu backwaters fall in the 15th km of the 105-km-long South Buckingham Canal that runs between Kotturpuram and Marakkanam. Of this, the stretch between Sholinganallur and Muttukadu has been worst affected after urbanisation, particularly in Uthandi and Kanathur. Even the unpolluted stretch is slowly turning into an eyesore as raw sewage is let into the canal and garbage gets dumped into it.

Chennai Corporation and Chennai Metrowater were instructed to plug sewage outfalls and also construct sewage treatment plants to divert raw sewage polluting the waterway.

Chennai Corporation officials in Sholinganallur and Perungudi zones will plug outfalls of polluted drains in areas such as Thoraipakkam and Neelankarai. Residents of multi-storied residential buildings near the backwaters and along the Buckingham Canal stressed the need for a monitoring mechanism.

THE HINDU