The Public Works Department has intensified desilting of major stormwater drains in the urban and rural areas of Puducherry as part of its efforts to prevent water stagnation and ensure smooth flow of water during Northeast monsoon.

The Irrigation wing under the PWD has around 40-km-long stormwater drains in the urban limits and 319-km-long channels in the rural areas. The desilting of the drains in the urban limits has been taken up at a cost of around ₹1.99 crore and the work in rural areas at a cost of ₹2.5 crore, a PWD official told The Hindu. 

As per data available with the PWD, the desilting of urban drains such as Mettuvoikkal, Pallavoikkal and the one in Bharathidasan Nagar passing through areas of Reddiyarpalayam, Oulgaret, Vazhudhavur and Mudaliarpet has been completed.

The cleaning up of main channels, such as Uppar, Karuvadikuppam, Shanmughapuram, Gorimedu, Saram and Iyyanar Koil drains, was progressing fast now. The contractors have been asked to speed up the works so that desilting of all drains could be completed by the end of this month, the official added. 

“Getting access to the drains in urban areas is the main issue confronting the workers taking up the desilting work. We are deploying more men and machinery for the cleaning up work. In the coming days we will be deploying more excavators for removing the silt. By end of this month, we will be completing the works,” the official added. 

The government had in the recent times accorded priority to flood mitigation and drainage improvement works in the town. The PWD had installed high-capacity value pump sets at seven flood-prone locations, including Venkata Nagar, to drainout flood water during heavy rain, the official said. 

He said precautionary measures have also been taken to avoid flooding in the residential areas of Orleanpet due to construction of the road overbridge over the Uppar drain. “The ongoing work for the road overbridge is a cause for concern as free flow of rainwater may get affected at a few locations. So, we are concentrating more on desilting the Uppar from Sithankudi to the drain’s confluence point. Around 50% of the desilting work is over in the Uppar,” the officer said.