The State government is contemplating two options – the formation of a “cut and cover” channel from Pallikaranai marshland to the sea and regular dredging of the marsh – to address the problem of flooding in Velachery and the southern outskirts of the city.
The first option was mooted nearly 20 years ago and dropped in October 2014. While the second is also nothing new, authorities would like to tread their path carefully in view of possible objections from green activists.
Last week’s torrential rain caused by Cyclone Michaung left Velachery and the city’s southern suburbs flooded. Also called “straight cut”, the cut and cover” channel was to complement the existing arrangement of water draining from the marsh into Muttukadu backwaters through South Buckingham Canal and Okkiyam Maduvu. Its carrying capacity was to be 3,500 cubic feet per second (cusecs).
