Chennai: After remaining largely stalled for nearly three years, the Adyar river restoration project is now seeing movement, with the Chennai rivers restoration trust (CRRT) beginning work on a detailed project report (DPR) and initiating recruitment to strengthen its project team.CRRT member-secretary Simranjit Singh Kahlon said the DPR is currently under preparation. “We are preparing a DPR which will account for structural designs and get into finer details. The work for this is going on,” he said.Officials, however, did not mention any timelines for completion of the DPR or commencement of actual restoration works on the field. CRRT has floated tenders to hire key personnel on one-year contract including a chief engineer, a land management officer and project financial executives. In the tender document, CRRT said the appointments were necessary to provide financial and technical expertise for the project.Though Chennai metrowater prepared a detailed feasibility report in 2024 to restore the 42km long river, the project failed to progress due to encroachment issues along stretches in Saidapet and Kotturpuram. Officials said consultants could not proceed with the DPR as trunk sewer lines proposed along the river banks could not be incorporated into the design because of existing settlements.Last Oct, the Tamil Nadu urban habitat and development board identified land at Nagi Reddy Thottam in Saidapet to relocate around 1,000 families from Thideer Nagar, a long-standing settlement beneath the Saidapet bridge. But relocation efforts remained stalled as the previous govt did not attempt eviction ahead of elections.The ₹1500 crore restoration project was announced by former finance minister Palanivel Thiagarajan in 2023 in the state budget. The project was repeated in the 2024, 2025 and 2026 budgets without any progress. TVK’s Saidapet MLA M Arulprakasam said discussions were underway with residents. “We will relocate them after finalising in-situ housing. Nobody can encroach waterbodies. The govt will take into account all stakeholders and ensure people are relocated without hassle, while restoring the river for the welfare of the public,” he said.
