Cooum river

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday said the rivers in Chennai would be restored at a cost of Rs 2,371 crore.

The scheme would be taken up for four years beginning with the current fiscal.

The eco-restoration of the Adyar and the Cooum rivers are underway through Chennai River Restoration Trust.

“A detailed project report has been prepared to arrest sewage flow into the Cooum and the Adyar rivers, the Buckingham canal and the connecting drains by providing interceptions and diversions, sewerage treatment plants, pumping stations and strengthening and restoring the existing sewerage infrastructure,” the chief minister said.

Even as the demand for drinking water is on the rise due to rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, the water resources dwindle due to climatic changes. “The state government will evolve a comprehensive policy to confront the challenges and prevent pollution of water bodies, reuse of treated sewage to industrial and other uses, and identifying the grid for reuse pipelines,” the chief minister said.

A detailed project report would be prepared to increase the groundwater table and find long-term solutions to augment the water sources, besides reusing 260 million litres of sewage after a thorough tertiary treatment for alternate use, Palaniswami said.

Similar project reports would also be prepared for Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode, Salem and Trichy corporations.

