JAIPUR: The Tamil Nadu government plans to restore the 217-year-old Buckingham Canal in Chennai based on the Dravyavati River Rejuvenation Project here.
A team from Chennai, led by state water resources department minister Thiru Durai Murugan, is scheduled to make a field visit of the various sites of Dravyavati Project on Saturday to gather first-hand information. The team will also comprise a few senior engineers of the Tamil Nadu government including the additional chief secretary of the water resources department, Sandeep Saxena.
“On February 28, Saxena had sent a letter to UDH principal secretary Kunji Lal Meena stating that the team wanted to make a field visit of the Dravyavati Rejuvenation Project in order to restore the Buckingham Canal in Chennai,” a senior official from the urban development and housing (UDH) department told TOI.
The first segment of the canal was constructed in 1806 from Madras (presently Chennai) to Ennore, a distance of 18km. Later, following a famine in Chennai, it was extended in 1878 at a cost of Rs 3 million. This was the time it was named as Buckingham Canal as this extended link was constructed on the orders of then governor, the Duke of Buckingham.
As per the schedule prepared by Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) – the nodal agency which had implemented the project – the team will start the day from the Landscape Park built at Shipra Path at 9.30 am. The team would then visit the Bird Park in Panipech followed by the location of the Sewerage Treatment Plant in Sanganer. The team would then head to Haldighati and would finish the day at the Botanical Park in Bambala.
“During their visits at the different sites the team would meet and interact with engineers and officials of JDA and the consortium maintaining the project, led by Tata Projects. Murugan would also hold a meeting state UDH minister Shanti Dhariwal,” said a JDA official.
The BJP government had taken up this project to restore the 47.5 km Dravyavati River. This project was aimed to reduce pollution, treat 170 million litres of sewerage a day and to beautify the banks of the river. Apart from installing the STPs, three parks had been built along the banks of the river and the 128-year-old pump house in Panipech had been restored into a heritage cafetaria-cum-museum. Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje had inaugurated this project on October 2, 2018.
A team from Chennai, led by state water resources department minister Thiru Durai Murugan, is scheduled to make a field visit of the various sites of Dravyavati Project on Saturday to gather first-hand information. The team will also comprise a few senior engineers of the Tamil Nadu government including the additional chief secretary of the water resources department, Sandeep Saxena.
“On February 28, Saxena had sent a letter to UDH principal secretary Kunji Lal Meena stating that the team wanted to make a field visit of the Dravyavati Rejuvenation Project in order to restore the Buckingham Canal in Chennai,” a senior official from the urban development and housing (UDH) department told TOI.
The first segment of the canal was constructed in 1806 from Madras (presently Chennai) to Ennore, a distance of 18km. Later, following a famine in Chennai, it was extended in 1878 at a cost of Rs 3 million. This was the time it was named as Buckingham Canal as this extended link was constructed on the orders of then governor, the Duke of Buckingham.
As per the schedule prepared by Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) – the nodal agency which had implemented the project – the team will start the day from the Landscape Park built at Shipra Path at 9.30 am. The team would then visit the Bird Park in Panipech followed by the location of the Sewerage Treatment Plant in Sanganer. The team would then head to Haldighati and would finish the day at the Botanical Park in Bambala.
“During their visits at the different sites the team would meet and interact with engineers and officials of JDA and the consortium maintaining the project, led by Tata Projects. Murugan would also hold a meeting state UDH minister Shanti Dhariwal,” said a JDA official.
The BJP government had taken up this project to restore the 47.5 km Dravyavati River. This project was aimed to reduce pollution, treat 170 million litres of sewerage a day and to beautify the banks of the river. Apart from installing the STPs, three parks had been built along the banks of the river and the 128-year-old pump house in Panipech had been restored into a heritage cafetaria-cum-museum. Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje had inaugurated this project on October 2, 2018.
