P. S. Sivaswami Salai residents sore at delayed drain work; officers promise it will be over in 45 days

It has not been easy for the residents of P. S. Sivaswami Salai, Mylapore. Time and again, their road has been dug up. This time it is by Chennai Corporation to lay storm water drains.

The official in charge of the storm water drain project in this area says the process takes time.

In his words, “At P. S. Sivaswami Salai, the total length of the drain that needs to be laid  is 370 metres. From the road level we need to dig upto a depth of 1.6 metres. Out of the 370 metres, excavation has been done for 150 metres. Out of the 150 metres,  wall construction work has been done for 120 metres. For the wall that has been constructed, the roof concrete has been laid for 80 metres. For the remaining 40 metres, steel fabrication for the top flap is going on”.

But why the delay? “Water stagnates in the dug up portion and we have to keep pumping out the water before we start work. We have asked for temporary water diversion into the nearby storm water drain. Once that is done, the work will be completed faster”.

What is going to be done to prevent future delays? He says, “Once we are done with the 150 metre stretch that has been dug up, we will only dig up 10 metres at a time. Only after the roof work is done on the first ten metres, will we dig up the next 10 metres”.

He continues, “Once the work is done here, water from the Alwarpet side will flow into this drain and empty out into the Buckingham Canal, near Mylapore MRTS station”.

The work should be completed in a month and a half, he adds.

Mylapore MLA R Nataraj was at the spot recently, to inspect the work after he too got a spate of plaints and to give a ear to the people’s woes. ( photo)