15 years on, Otteri Nullah Tail-end Cleared

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

North Chennai can now heave a sigh of relief during the monsoon as Public Works Department cleaned up the tail end of Otteri Nullah 15 years after the waterway was blocked by silt and weeds.

The 500 metre stretch of Otteri Nullah from the GMR power plant to Buckingham Canal was unapproachable for the last 15 years as it was blocked by high rise walls on both side of the banks and two electrical fences erected on the banks. It also had a naptha pipeline for the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board power plant besides number of bridges, including railways, making it difficult to carry on the work, a senior PWD official told Express.

He said there was no access point to the Otteri Nullah in the 500 metre stretch as a result the flow of the nullah was reduced to about 200 cusecs. This made North Chennai vulnerable to floods and during 2005 many of the upstream areas like Kannigapuram, Pulianthope and Binny Mills got innundated.

Interestingly, GMR plant officials, who themselves were victims of the flood fury in 2005, agreed to create a approach road by breaking open the compound wall to clear the Otteri Nullah. “The flood water used to enter our plant due to silt and vegetation hindering the flow of the nullah, said S R Nerudtha, manager planning and efficiency GMR Energy.

PWD sources said since normal and usual machinery can’t enter the area as such they took the help of a private company N J Construction to clean the waterway using bargers and float. “The area was infested by snakes and was too risky to carry out the work. It also had two electrical fences and a naptha ,” said a senior PWD official.

“The original capacity of the Otteri Nullah was 600 cusecs and after desilting and clearing of weeds, it now has been improved to 1,000 cusecs,” said the official.

The official said that a flood protection wall was constructed on the right side of the banks of the tailend of nullah near Buckingham Canal. This also safeguards the bunds of the Gummidipoondi railway line, the PWD official added.