Clean Buckingham Canal before onset of monsoon: NGT

CHENNAI: The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal on Wednesday directed the state public works department (PWD) to expedite cleaning up of the Buckingham Canal.
Jawahar Shanmugam of Thiruvanmiyur had earlier moved the tribunal requesting a direction to the authorities to clear the clogged canal. On Wednesday, the bench of Justice P Jyothimani and expert member R Nagendran went through 27 photographs showing the dismal state of affairs in the canal.
Shanmugam told TOI that apart from the canal's bank, the pictures were clicked from the footbridges of Elangovan Nagar (near Thiruvanmiyur), Kottivakkam, Pallavakkam, Neelankarai and Sholinganallur. "The photographs, taken on August 29, clearly show that the water channels are choked," said Shanmugam, underscoring that the debris would lead to flooding during monsoon.
Highlighting a stretch of the canal, which impeded the flow of water, he said, "Behind ISCKON temple near Sholinganallur, for more than a kilometer's distance, and a width of around 100 metres, debris and water hyacinth have blocked the canal." Most of the footbridges from Thiruvanmiyur to Sholinganallur have also impeded the flow of water because of their low height.
"Except Neelankarai, where the bridge is around 40 metres high, all other bridges are a little more than 30 metres tall," he said.
The bench then asked the PWD to expeditiously deploy more earthmovers for cleaning the canal to ensure that there is no flooding during the northeast monsoon that is barely more than a month away. It also asked the PWD to submit an action-taken report with photographs. The bench then posted the matter for further hearing to October 3.