Chennai: Chennai corporation on Wednesday approved the proposal by Chennai Smart City Limited to restore 32 water bodies within the Chennai corporation limits. This is the first time in the recent past the civic body is all set to restore the small lakes and ponds coming within the expanded areas.
The smart city board also gave its consent to install for rooftop solar panels in government buildings located in capital Chennai.
"Villivakkam lake, water bodies in Manali, tanks in Thiruvottiyur and ponds along the IT corridor will now get a new lease of life," said a senior board official of the Chennai smart city. There are more than 200 small water bodies in Chennai and under the phase one 32 of them have been identified. Funding will not be a problem as funds under smart city. CSR activities of corporate companies and the logistical support from city corporation will be utilized. By next month a time frame will be fixed for the project and the selected lakes will be restored in a phased manner.
The smart city board will also reach out to volunteers and NGOs to make this project a public-oriented one so that the restored water bodies are maintained. Villivakkam lake will be the first major project and based on the success, this module will be extended to other water bodies in Chennai, the official said.
To a query on the smart city schemes and the delay in executing the project in T. Nagar, the official denied that there was any delay. We have formulated guidelines and the consultants are studying the projects. Projects like the pedestrian plaza, multi-storey parking lot and road development works have taken off in T. Nagar, the official said.
Meanwhile, informed officials in the state secretariat admitted that the much-hyped smart city projects in TN are behind their schedule by at least one year. During the tenure of Venkaiah Naidu as urban development minister, the project was periodically reviewed and there were frequent inspections and conferences in Chennai, but now the josh for the centre sponsored scheme is missing, sources said, commenting Naidu as a hands-on minister and an able administrator pushing the smart city projects in Tamil Nadu.
