Seminar on Waterways in Chennai

What the document covers

Seminar on Waterways in Chennai records addresses by Thiru Vikram Kapur, Member-Secretary of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, and Tmt. Susan Mathew, Additional Chief Secretary and Vice-Chairperson of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority. The seminar was organised to bring government agencies, local bodies, experts, institutions, non-governmental organisations and the public together to develop practical recommendations for Chennai’s waterways.

The document discusses the Kosathaliyar River, Cooum River and Adyar River, along with lakes, canals, channels and storm-water drainage. It identifies encroachment, pollution, reduced water-carrying capacity and flooding as major concerns.

Relevance to land and property

The Second Master Plan’s land use maps are described as specifically zoning water bodies to protect them from encroachment and further conversion. The document also records that some water-spread areas were originally government lands but became patta lands over time.

For property owners and buyers, the document signals that land shown as a water body, conservation area, drainage feature or annually flooded area is part of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority’s environmental and drainage planning. The seminar record does not itself decide ownership, cancel a patta or grant development permission.

Key policies and recommendations

The Second Master Plan recommendations described in the seminar include:

• Protecting lakes and water bodies from encroachment and removing existing encroachments to restore the water bodies to their original state.
• Identifying important macro-drainage features and defining the extent of conservation areas through the land use plan.
• Identifying areas subject to annual flooding so that local bodies can undertake remedial measures with the Public Works Department.
• Making the Public Works Department the nodal agency for planning and maintaining water bodies and macro-drainage systems.
• Making local bodies responsible for micro-drainage and integrating local storm-water drainage with the macro system.
• Preparing a micro-drainage plan for each local body in consultation with the Public Works Department.
• Creating additional storage capacity so excess floodwater can help augment urban water supply.
• Reducing pollution in Chennai’s waterways and progressively improving water quality.
• Identifying and securing land for open spaces, parks and playgrounds.

The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority also formed committees as follow-up action under the Second Master Plan, including an Infrastructure Committee dealing with macro and micro drainage in the Chennai Metropolitan Area.