Chennai: Low-lying areas in and around Chennai are set to get 15 new bridges at an estimated cost of Rs 25 crore. Key stretches include ones at St. Thomas Mount, Poonamalle and Villivakkam.
With soil test reports being favourable, government engineers have begun preparing the detailed project reports for the bridges.
The Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj of state of Tamil Nadu (TNRD) had chosen the stretches on the grounds of worst affected areas in 2015 and the areas that continued to be marooned during monsoon this year.
“Primary importance would be given to the bridge planned from Pandeswaram Link Road to AV road via Arundhati Palayam near Poonamalle.
It would cost nearly 2.5 crore and run to the length of one kilometer to restrict water stagnation”, said an official from TNRD.
He added that other bridges would include one near Nookampalayam road in St. Thomas Mount coming up at an estimated cost of Rs 1 crore and another in an area in Poonamalle connecting Ramapuram Salai, stretching 450 metres in length and being built at a cost of 1.75 crore.
Poondi, Minjur and Kundrathur are other low lying areas where bridges would come up in the coming years.
For the past six years, monsoon has been a nightmare for the residents of all these areas. The heavy rains leave half of the coastal metropolis inundated in water throwing life out of gear for three months.
The city is spread across a low-lying area with the average elevation of the city being only about 6.7 metres above mean sea level.
Of these, the listed 15 areas are actually at sea level, which makes drainage a challenge even under normal circumstances - the reason why bridges have been planned.
