Chennai - Waterways Cleaning and Restoration Project Updates

[ferrari_fan]

Originally Posted by arun82

This is already slowly happening....Citicentre, Spencer, Taj Coromandel, MRC nagar, Boat club already on the banks of the cooum.

Of that whole list, only Spencers is on the banks of the Cooum dude..

[cofee]

Originally Posted by ferrari_fan

Of that whole list, only Spencers is on the banks of the Cooum dude..

Arun motha Chennaiya Coovam endru ninakirar polum

[kannan infratech]

The recent Cooum restoration Plan will use Treated water mainly from the Koyambedu STPs for flushing and normal course. Please be confident that the treated sewage water will have less than BOD of 20 (Metrowater we get in our pipes has sometimes more BOD than this)

Using Sea water (though I think is ok for flushing purpose) for flushing and normal flow faces huge opposition. Enviro Specialists argue that Subsoil water may get contaminated by this sea water and we will have water crisis more acutely than now.

Treated water from Koyambedu will be brought to Cooum vis Virugambakkam canal ( another waterway in utter shambles).

The problem starts only after Madhravoyal (MGR university) and past Anna Nagar becomes an open sewer. Aminjikarai, Chetpet, Central Station areas add to the problems.

Stopping fresh sewage is the major challenge.

[satchitananda]

Originally Posted by kannan infratech

The recent Cooum restoration Plan will use Treated water mainly from the Koyambedu STPs for flushing and normal course. Please be confident that the treated sewage water will have less than BOD of 20 (Metrowater we get in our pipes has sometimes more BOD than this)

Using Sea water (though I think is ok for flushing purpose) for flushing and normal flow faces huge opposition. Enviro Specialists argue that Subsoil water may get contaminated by this sea water and we will have water crisis more acutely than now.

Treated water from Koyambedu will be brought to Cooum vis Virugambakkam canal ( another waterway in utter shambles).

The problem starts only after Madhravoyal (MGR university) and past Anna Nagar becomes an open sewer. Aminjikarai, Chetpet, Central Station areas add to the problems.

Stopping fresh sewage is the major challenge.

Hit the nail on the head. Agreed that sea water flushing deep inland may not be the optimum solution. But a healthy mix of sea and fresh water at the mouths is what makes these as natural estuaries. Adayar for example. Thats why you used to find mangrove species.

To combat this sewer, I see there are big players and small households. How about we start with the big ones. We can use multiple strategies - Shame them in public by getting articles inserted about the volume of discharge for example forummers mentioned some hospitals, parallely increasing the awareness in the public. We need to go back to Mahatma Gandhi's ways maybe.. instead focus on how much goodwill these corporate entities will create if they choose to focus on addressing this issue.

Kannan, do you think there are any good NGOs who can be roped in ?

Can a PIL be filed to stop flow by these corporates for starters ?

[Leo_r]

Enact a law(If it is not there) that no Electricity and Water connection will be given to any New constructions in TN without a Certificate from Sewerage board in all places where underground drainage system exists.

Insist all old owners who are not having a connection to Sewerage board, to get it within 1 year, failing which their Power and water connection shall be disconnected and this should include Housing board and Slum clearance board and PWD buildings.

Remove all encroachments around water bodies.

90 percent problem will be solved. Need to be ruthless. Immediately after next election.

[kannan infratech]

@satchidananda
I hope that you are not one of those AAAAAnandas (Just Joking)

NGOs in TN are generally of two nature. One is Genuine but poor due to constant fight with authorities. The other is rich to very rich but they are chamchas to authorities. (A former Health Minister used to cut deals - if any NGO registers as AIDS Awareness NGO, they will get huge money. They have to keep 10% and return 90% in cash. Thousands of NGOs sprung up in his state and he is supposed to have 1000s of Crores in Swiss and European Banks).

Sometime back, SHG for Women were started and were very genuine. But of late, SHGs have been hijacked by politicians and they act as conduits to supply money to voters.

If you want to help a cause, please dirty your shoes and jump (into Cooum!?! - No No) into the mode. Please do not argue with the officials right away. First hear their problems patiently and start suggesting how they can solve. Pitch in help with your friends. They will come along.

If you give solutions, they will like you. If you only counts the problem issues, they will shun you.

[kannan infratech]

@ Leo r

If the existing laws are applied and followed to the letter & spirit, all the problems can be solved. But nobody has guts or they deliberately do not want to antogonise the public who spoil the waterways.

Each such citizen can vote twice or thrice in a single election which means a tenement of 100 people can give 300 votes. Who can refuse that? Imagine in Central Chennai Constituency (where Cooum river flows maximum within city) there are at least 200 to 300 mtenements with atleast 100 people each. 300 x 100 x 3 votes = 90000 votes. This is generally the winning margin of the winning candidate.

TNSCB is embarking on massive projects at Thoraipakkam and Sholinganallur and there are plans to shift all those people living along the waterways to these new flats. Both JJ and the present CM are keen on this.

If they can take care of the schooling and transportation needs of the people who got displaced, there may not be strong opposition.

Generally all the new households within the corporation limit are given water & sewer connections right at the beginning. But old ones escape. Suburbs are just gearing up with UGSS. Probably by 2015, Chennai and its suburbs will have UGSS and modern STPs.

Hospitals, Industries are the major pollutants which generally harm more than the normal sewage.

[kvijayasundaram]

Hospitals, Industries are the major pollutants which generally harm more than the normal sewage.

But aren't Hospitals and Industries easy targets to be brought under control. There should not be any resistance and they are easy to monitor and to be prosecuted.
If they are the major polluters, My guess is the job of cooum cleanup is much easier than thought. Is it not ?

On the other hand, I have noticed plastics, leather waste, construction rubble dumped on shores that obstruct the flow to be more harming than sewage water itself. If they could concentrate on preventing solid wastes dumping and let treated sewage flow constantly I think most of the job is done.

[satchitananda]

Originally Posted by kannan infratech

@satchidananda
I hope that you are not one of those AAAAAnandas (Just Joking)

NGOs in TN are generally of two nature. One is Genuine but poor due to constant fight with authorities. The other is rich to very rich but they are chamchas to authorities. (A former Health Minister used to cut deals - if any NGO registers as AIDS Awareness NGO, they will get huge money. They have to keep 10% and return 90% in cash. Thousands of NGOs sprung up in his state and he is supposed to have 1000s of Crores in Swiss and European Banks).

Sometime back, SHG for Women were started and were very genuine. But of late, SHGs have been hijacked by politicians and they act as conduits to supply money to voters.

If you want to help a cause, please dirty your shoes and jump (into Cooum!?! - No No) into the mode. Please do not argue with the officials right away. First hear their problems patiently and start suggesting how they can solve. Pitch in help with your friends. They will come along.

If you give solutions, they will like you. If you only counts the problem issues, they will shun you.

I will definitely accept and agree your words of experience.

Yes I am one of those Anandaas. But not the one who hits the media with their infamy, but the one attempting to be a traveller on the way to real ananda. Thanks for being a great fellow traveller.

[kannan infratech]

Originally Posted by kvijayasundaram

But aren't Hospitals and Industries easy targets to be brought under control. There should not be any resistance and they are easy to monitor and to be prosecuted.
If they are the major polluters, My guess is the job of cooum cleanup is much easier than thought. Is it not ?

On the other hand, I have noticed plastics, leather waste, construction rubble dumped on shores that obstruct the flow to be more harming than sewage water itself. If they could concentrate on preventing solid wastes dumping and let treated sewage flow constantly I think most of the job is done.

Though TNPCB has been around a while, the laws are very ambiguous. Implementation of existing laws are pathetic.

Hospital wastes have to be incenerated by the respective hospitals as they can have disease communicating viruses and bacterias. But no hospital in Chennai has a facility for zero discharge. The incinerators cobble up power and the power bills will be too steep. Who is ready to pay?

Recently, the expired drugs which were supposed to be incenarted in a Govt facility (Common facility to cut costs) found their way into shops.

The industries if possible pump the effluents into the normal sewage drains. Otherwise they transport the same to Perungudi or Kodungaiyur and dump them into the marsh lands / poromboke lands. They do it at nights and if caught, they can bribr their way easily out.

I feel that the mindset of the people has to change. If I keep my house clean and environmentally sustainable, then I can go and argue with others. It has to start at individual household.

[Leo_r]

There is a common Govt. owned Incinerator for Medical wastes somewhere around Chennai. I remember, Villagers objected to that unit near their place.

[satishanu]

The Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) will soon procure 45 new desilting machines to clear sewer pipelines and manholes in the city, according to municipal administration and water supply secretary Niranjan Mardi.

He was addressing a special session with party floor leaders and zonal chairpersons of the corporation at Ripon Buildings on Wednesday, following complaints of an outbreak of diarrhoeal diseases in several residential colonies in the city. After the Madras High Court banned manual scavenging, CMWSSB has been procuring desilting machines. The agency currently owns 56 jet rodding machines and 53 desilting machines.

Mardi said the government had issued orders saying local area development funds of MPs and MLAs could be used for purchasing of desilting machines. "Metrowater will get 25 jet rodding machines, 17 desilting machines and three suction-cum-jet rodding machines soon, using local area development funds," he said.

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Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/C...ow/6029781.cms

[arun82]

CAN WE MAKE COOUM ALSO LIKE THIS

[satchitananda]

Originally Posted by arun82

CAN WE MAKE COOUM ALSO LIKE THIS

Hi Arun,

That would be a dream come true. But we face one major hurdle amongst others - WATER - rather lack of it.

a) Fresh Water (I mean even if its treated waste water) - Guess that would not make this much volume.

b) Sea Water - That would complicate the issue with salt water intrusion.

The more realistic picture would be something that is relatively clean, clean enough for fish and birds to return along with boats - most for entertainment.

[arun82]

If they can ,....cant we

ALSO REMEMBER COOUM WAS ONCE PERENNIAL...SO CHANGIN COOUM TO ITS EARLIER FORM IS NOT TOUGH

Bhaonta-Kolyala village, Alwar district, Rajasthan

Total area 1,200 ha
Population 566
Number of water
harvesting structures 15
Number of wells 25

Dhanna Baba, one of the resident, who actively contributed both in cash and kind to improve the ecological health of the village. Now his village and its works has been acclaimed at both the national and international levels


Although Bhaonta-Kolyala village walked away with the Down To Earth-Joseph C John Award, the judges came across several such communities worthy of praise. The Guraiya Watershed Community in Madhya Pradesh, Krushak Charcha Mandal in Maharashtra and AJCB Briksha Mitra Sangha in Tripura deserve a particular mention. All these communities have one thing in common — for them a healthy environment means economic prosperity. Down To Earth profiles all the four communities


A tale of two villages

There are about 600,000 villages in India. And perhaps as many kinds of environmental problems they face. It is easy to accept defeat. But Bhaonta-Kolyala did not

It’s an unusual ritual the villages of Bhaonta-Kolyala follow. Every year, they pour water into a johad — a crescent-shaped earthen check-dam — on Deepawali. But history has it that some 1,000 years ago, they were killed en masse by neighbouring villagers while observing the ritual. That was when the twin villages got together and came to be known as one. And ever since, they don’t celebrate Deepawali. But they continue filling johads with water.
Their visit to a johads is not limited to one day in a year. Every new-born is taken to a johad “to be blessed by the deity residing in the johad”. A newly-wed couple does the same. And on a no-moon day, villagers engage themselves in community work like building a temple or starting work on a new johad.

Despite such a strong tradition of water harvesting, in the years that followed the villagers started neglecting johads, which were buried with pebbles. Besides, during the late 1970s and early 1980s, the villagers suffered four spells of drought. The 25 wells in the village had no trace of water for most of the year.

“There was nothing to sustain ourselves,” recalls villager Arjan Gujjar, who was to actively participate in water harvesting later. Most of the men migrated to cities, while the rest accepted their lives as “ill-fate”, says Kanheya Lal, an active village leader. “Two or three decades ago, the hills were covered with dense forests. It helped in protecting the soil and water aquifers and provided favourable conditions for the regeneration of trees and pasture. The hills were also home to a number of wild animals,” points out S S Dhabariya, former head of the remote sensing division of the Birla Science and Technology Centre in Jaipur. “But, over a period of six decades, all that vanished,” he adds. Worse, rainfall here is quite low (600 mm, of which 500 mm falls during the monsoon). With the forests gone, the sloping landscape of the hills failed to retain any water during the monsoon.

Johads: the rediscovery

The year was 1986. Villagers of Bhaonta-Kolyala noticed a remarkable development in Gopalpura, a village 20 kilometres (km) away. Gopalpura had water in its wells round the year. The reason — villagers had revived johads with the help of Tarun Bharat Sangh (tbs), a non-governmental organisation NGO.
The same year, tbs’ annual pani yatra (march for water) from Gopalpura passed through Bhaonta-Kolyala. Led by farmers Sundra Baba and Dhannua Baba, the beleaguered villagers finally approached Rajendra Singh, secretary general of tbs. He offered help but on one condition — that the villagers should be ready to take upon themselves the task of regeneration.

After organising themselves and the neighbouring villages, on March 6, 1987, the villagers started protecting forests and repairing old johads. They mapped the natural drainage system and choose tentative sites to construct new johads. “Our aim was to catch each and every drop of rain water that fell on the village,” says Mangal Ram, a villager.

During the course of their search, they discovered an old johad, buried in silt, on the slope of the barren hills. In 1988, repair work on the johad started. When the monsoons arrived, the johad was filled with water. Overwhelmed by the results from a single johad, the villagers started building more such structures. Today, the village has a total of 15 water harvesting structures, including a 244 metres long, 7 metres tall concrete dam in the upper catchment of the Aravalli to stop water before it flows downstream, the construction for which was started in 1990.

The dam was a turning point. Even those who had migrated were called back to, as Dhannua says, ‘heal the wounds of Mother Earth’. By 1995, a year after the completion of the dam, water level in the wells downstream rose by two to three feet. “The percolation of water from this dam is three feet an hour. Its impact is felt in villages 20 km downstream. All the wells are now filled with water,” says Govind Ram, a villager. Today, all the agricultural land is under cultivation. Milk production has risen up to 10 times. Every rupee invested in a johad has increased the village’s annual income by 2.5-3 times.

Reviving the Arvari

The most important lesson from Bhaonta-Kolyala is that when villages work with each other to regenerate the environment, there are unexpected blessings.Sometimes, they are as big as a river. In the case of Bhaonta-Kolyala, it was Arvari river. In 1990, when the villagers started constructing the big dam, no one knew that the site was the origin of the river. And by catching and percolating water, they were injecting life into the river (see map: Water of life).
The river’s course was intact due to the monsoonal water run-off. In 1990, a small stream came out to vanish within weeks. That was part of the natural course of the Arvari. “It was then that the new generation of the village believed that there was indeed a river originating from the village. Till then, it was passed off as fiction,” says Dhannua Baba.

A seasonal drain, Arvari grew like a child and started flowing for one extra month each progressive year. It became a perennial river in 1995.

Since 1986, 238 water harvesting structures have come up in the catchment areas of the river, including another huge dam in the second source of the river in Agar village. “Each and every monsoon stream has been dammed and virtually all the hills slopes have been afforested to stop run off and soil erosion,” says Arjun Patel, a villager.

To ensure that the Arvari remains clean and healthy and also to solve internal disputes, the 70-odd villages in the Arvari basin have also formed the Arvari River Parliament.

Greening the desert

Building water harvesting structures was not enough for the villagers. To control soil erosion, they demarcated 12 square kilometre of the adjoining forest area for regeneration. And in 1995 they declared it as a public wildlife sanctuary, claimed to be the first of its kind in the country.

Symbolically, the sanctuary area starts from the dam built by the villagers. ‘Bhaironath Public Wildlife Sanctuary’, written on the dam, welcomes you to the sanctuary. With the regeneration of forests, wildlife has started migrating from the nearby Sariska Tiger Reserve forests. “Our forests are totally protected, nobody disturbs the wildlife. So the wildlife from the other forests are finding it safer here,” says Dhannua Baba.

According to the local people, the sanctuary is at present home to three tigers, many bluebulls and deer. The tiger pug marks are proof of their presence in the sanctuary.

The gram sabha has also imposed a strict code of conduct — tree felling is not allowed though villagers are allowed to take branches for domestic purposes. Grazing is restricted to a specific patch of the forest. Recently, the villagers dug a pond on the periphery of the sanctuary for the benefit of the wild animals. Says Arjun Patel, “The village is getting back its beauty after generations. Now there are forests, water and wildlife.” And for Dhannua Baba, the smell of tiger is good for crops. “It will ensure a good yield of crops,” he says.

For the last three years, it has rained poorly in the region. But for the villagers involved in water management, there is enough water for drinking and irrigation. They have proved that the answers to seemingly unsurpassable environmental problems lie in social mobilisation and traditional wisdom. That economic well-being is a byproduct of ecological regeneration. And for a well-organised society, drought is a myth.

http://www.karmayog.org/rwhrural/rwhrural_28863.htm

[kannan infratech]

I was invited to visit the water harvesting and check dams construction by a Rotary Club in Gujarat (I have been asked not to mention the specific club so as not to take the credit away from people).

The cluster of villages in Kutch region were without water for decades , if not centuries. They used to joke that the only mysterious Sarawathi river would bring water to these areas.

But thanks to the determined villagers and a few die hard Rotarians, these villages have surplus water now and are teaching and helping nearby villages.
Incidentally this has been achieved even when the rainfall is below normal.

When a dry place like that is able to achieve so much, we in TN can do much more.

But I have to mention that the Govt machinery of Gujarat, though it was not a stake holder but cleared the project without much fuss, did not interfere.

CM Narendra Modi announced the success of this project in Vibrant Gujarat function along with the success of rural electrification. He was so humble and paid rich tributes to the villagers.

Imagine the TN culture of claiming credit for all good things where it may not be due.

[sridhar_n]

Kudos to the villagers and the rotary club.

This also shows that we should not look up to the govt to provide solutions for everything. We should have the propensity to help ourselves. We should see to it that the rotary clubs, exnora clubs and other NGOs channel their efforts to these kinds of initiatives.

[satchitananda]

Its true that we have had lots of success in Rajasthan and Gujarat areas recharging dead rivers. I recall many years ago how Tarun Bharat Sangh pioneered in water conservation, creating a model to emulate anywhere in the world.

Two critical components are needed to make this a reality - a critical mass of commited folks and political will. Both are lacking in case of Cooum.

This will definitely call for an integrated approach to water as a precious resource. Cooum alone with a catchment area of 140 Sq. km will be impacted by a densely populated urban area. But you cannot treat one river at a time for Chennai as it will involve Kosasthalaiyar River, Cooum River and Adyar River, besides the Buckingham canal and a whole host of degraded water networks.

The lack of political will and people's understanding is dwarfed only by a lack of clear vision on how to make Chennai a vibrant city. Its all inter related (irrespective of the fact we understand it or not). You cannot have proper water resources plan without a proper land development plan which is in turn related to a host of other variables. Thats why the compilation of data called Second Master Plan never translated from a vision. It has some great excellant ideas, but not stemming from a common vision.

We rival the Ganga Action Plan with our Cooum cleaning plan and effectiveness. Its an eternal fodder for politicans, no concrete plans on the ground. Sorry if I seem frustrated. I just want to see this eyesore become an attraction real badly. Its like you know your highly talented child can be a school/university topper if he just quits a couple of bad habits like procrastination.

I am glad through this forum, we are raising the interest levels of more people, which should eventually translate into increasing political will and vision.

[saysenthil]

CHENNAI: A team from Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) will be in Chennai on Tuesday to present proposals to the State Government to prepare a conceptual master plan for Cooum sub-basin restoration and management.

The government recently signed a memorandum of understanding with SCE to promote co-operation and collaboration in beautification of the Cooum river.

A high-level committee meeting, chaired by Deputy Chief Minister M. K. Stalin, was held in the city on Monday to review the progress of the project.

Sources said the Chennai River Restoration Trust (CRRT) has requested the Chennai Corporation to conduct a one-time mass cleaning programme along the banks of Cooum and place adequate number of bins facing the road to prevent people from dumping garbage.

A source in CRRT said “We have studied locations including Koyambedu, Naduvankarai, Aminjikarai, Anna Nagar, Chetpet, Spurtank Road and Pudupet. People living along the banks need to be encouraged to use the bins,” he said.

The Trust has circulated a questionnaire among various local bodies along the Cooum for details about solid waste management facilities. “We are trying to identify the gaps and provide technical assistance and arrange funds for projects,” the source said.

As regards sewage outfalls into the river, in the last few months seven have been plugged by the Chennai Metrowater. The water agency had been asked to plug 113 outfalls in the Cooum river, and Virugambakkam and Trustpuram canals.

“The agency will need two years for implementing this. These are outfalls on which action can be taken immediately. Other outfalls are being validated and will soon join the list,” the source added.

The Revenue Department was also asked to expedite resettlement process of the auto market in Pudupet to the newly identified locations at Appur and Perumalthangal near Singaperumal Koil.

Of the nearly-14,500 persons living along the Cooum river, from its mouth to Padi Kuppam identified for rehabilitation, about 920 of them have been resettled, the sources said.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/06/15/stor...1562110300.htm

[arun82]

June 14: Good times are ahead for Chennaiites. The DMK government’s promise to turn the city into a Singara Chennai, by cleaning up its much-polluted Cooum river, is gathering pace, albeit, in a slow and steady manner.

Experts from the Singapore Cooperation
Enterprise (SCE), with whom the government had entered into an agreement to facilitate cooperation and collaboration in restoration, beautification and management of the Cooum, will be visiting Chennai on Tuesday.

The Tamil Nadu government had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SCE in March and the Singapore team had conducted a preliminary study on the Cooum. The collaboration between Chennai River Restoration Trust (CRRT) and SCE is to share Singapore’s experience in river cleaning and rehabilitation, particularly in river sub-basin restoration and management.

The Singapore team will be submitting its offer of technical assistance to CRRT on Wednesday to formulate the scope of works to develop holistic, integrated and sustainable solutions for sub-basin restoration and management.

The high-level committee, headed by deputy chief minister M.K. Stalin, reviewed the progress of Cooum restoration on Monday. Slum clearance board minister Suba Thangavelan, environment minister T.P.M. Mohideen Khan, mayor M. Subramanian and senior officials participated in the committee meet.

According to official sources, the deputy chief minister instructed the slum clearance board authorities to expedite shifting the 1,650 shops dealing in automobile spare parts and old vehicles in the Pudupet area, along the banks of the Cooum, to a 44-acre site in Appur, near Oragadam.

Mr Stalin asked the officials to prepare the layout and initiate the site work. In an effort to create awareness among Chennaiites to keep the riverbanks of the Cooum clean, Mr Stalin — who had visited Singapore to study its cleaning up its river — directed the authorities of the Chennai corporation to carry out mass cleaning of garbage along the water bodies of Chennai.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chenn...ming-today-752