Chennai: Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) on Wednesday floated tenders for beautification of Cooum river — to create walkways, build bunds and plant trees. The project aims to declutter the vegetation and clear obstructions, for which GCC has identified a one-acre parcel of land near Anna swimming pool as a public utility. It has also identified a vantage point near the sea as a viewing gallery.Spots near Sivananda Salai will have steep bunds where planting works will be undertaken. GCC has planned to plant native tree saplings similar to the ones planted near Sathyavani Muthu Nagar where more than 1,000 encroachments were removed in 2020 and the bunds reclaimed. Now, the green cover has taken over the bunds.Officials said this is the first phase of the beautification of the river banks. “The next phase is a larger project which will involve building trunk sewer lines, plugging sewage, and constructing sewage treatment plants,” an official said, adding that they will prepare a DPR within the next three months.The current project is executed by GCC’s parks department. The city’s untreated sewage largely exits to the sea via Cooum river. The sewage flow is higher towards the estuary and Metrowater is identifying land to build sewage treatment plants.“We will get a clearer picture once National Highways Authority of India completes their pillar works, and removes the debris dumped for their piling machine. The DPR will cover the stretch from the estuary up to Maduravoyal,” officials said, adding that more than 500 encroachments needed to be removed.
