Chennai: In what might come as a huge relief to the residents of Chitlapakkam, the cut-and-cover project is expected to be completed in the next few days.
Sources said the portion of the project which is being done by the PWD will be completed in the coming week.
“Only a small portion on Chitlapakkam Main Road is left out. Apart from this, work is pending on stretches which are being done by the Chitlapakkam Town Panchayat,” sources added.
Speaking to News Today, P Viswanathan, convenor, Chitlapakkam Residents’ Associations, who has been closely monitoring the progress of the project said he is positive that there are less chances of flooding of Chitlapakkam this year.
“If everything goes as planned, the project should be completed by the end of this month. I am very happy that the project is nearing completion as we have been fighting for this to bring a solution for the flooding for the past 20 years. We will have to wait and see if the project succeeds in flood mitigation and make necessary adjustments wherever needed,” he added.
Meanwhile, a few residents are also skeptical about the effectiveness of the project. A few people say that there are a few flaws in the project that has to be addressed.
Sunil Jayaraman, a member of Chitlapakkam Rising said the gradient on Chokkanathar Street corner was not right and had been mentioned to panchayat at that time. “Instead of fixing the issue, they tried to fix us with false allegations and FIR. With work incomplete and rain pouring, life has become difficult for this corner of residents. When it rains heavy, we hope this corner does not get flooded,” he added.
The Public Works Department and the Chitlapakkam Town Panchayat started work towards the construction of the cut-and-cover drain project as part of a flood mitigation project at a cost of Rs 12 crore and Rs 5 crore respectively in September last year.