CHENNAI: It is three years since work on the 55.85 crore Orathur reservoir began. Though it was to be completed by mid-2021, only about 70% of the reservoir work has been completed so far. This despite the fact that the reservoir has a big role in preventing or at least minimising the inundation woes of Chennai city.
Orathur, which is the left arm of the starting point of the Adyar river, is an important tributary and the reservoir would connect the tanks in Orathur and Arambakkam near Adhanur, the origin point of Adyar.It would hold up to 1,000 million cubic feet of water, spreading across 485.6 hectares.
“The delay is due to the land acquisition of patta agricultural lands spanning up to 38.5 hectares, which is needed to build the 420m-long bund wall of the reservoir out of the total 3km-long bund wall,” said a WRD engineer. The landowners of the patta lands have been given alternate lands near Orathur in Korukkanthangal, he said.
“We hope to complete the land acquisition process within this week and complete building the bund wall in another three to four months,” said the official.
Had the Orathur reservoir been built, Varadarajapuram and Mudichur areas in West Tambaram would not have been inundated during and after Cyclone Michaung. The reservoir can hold water that the Adyar’s downstream areas would get, with the rate of inflow reduced by 6,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs).
The surplus from the Orathur reservoir would enter Adyar river in Perungalathur via a series of tanks. WRD has planned to build a similar reservoir in Adyar upstream in Pillaipakkam near Anakaputhur to prevent the area from flooding.
In 2015, when water was released at 29,000 cusecs from the Chembarambakkam reservoir, Varadarajapuram and Mudichur went under water.
Orathur, which is the left arm of the starting point of the Adyar river, is an important tributary and the reservoir would connect the tanks in Orathur and Arambakkam near Adhanur, the origin point of Adyar.It would hold up to 1,000 million cubic feet of water, spreading across 485.6 hectares.
“The delay is due to the land acquisition of patta agricultural lands spanning up to 38.5 hectares, which is needed to build the 420m-long bund wall of the reservoir out of the total 3km-long bund wall,” said a WRD engineer. The landowners of the patta lands have been given alternate lands near Orathur in Korukkanthangal, he said.
“We hope to complete the land acquisition process within this week and complete building the bund wall in another three to four months,” said the official.
Had the Orathur reservoir been built, Varadarajapuram and Mudichur areas in West Tambaram would not have been inundated during and after Cyclone Michaung. The reservoir can hold water that the Adyar’s downstream areas would get, with the rate of inflow reduced by 6,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs).
The surplus from the Orathur reservoir would enter Adyar river in Perungalathur via a series of tanks. WRD has planned to build a similar reservoir in Adyar upstream in Pillaipakkam near Anakaputhur to prevent the area from flooding.
In 2015, when water was released at 29,000 cusecs from the Chembarambakkam reservoir, Varadarajapuram and Mudichur went under water.