Funds sought to clear weeds on urban stretches of the Cooum
The Hindu
The drive is estimated to cost ₹2.6 crore, say officials
The urban stretch of the Cooum river may be rid of the overgrown vegetation in several portions as the Water Resources Department has sought funds to carry out the task.
While the department has started desilting the channels in and around the city ahead of northeast monsoon, both the Cooum and Adyar rivers have been left out of the drive.
As part of the efforts to ensure free flow of floodwater during the monsoon, the department has planned to remove thick vegetation and desilt both the waterways in the city limits. The Cooum’s width varies from 70 metres to 250 metres in the city limits. The river bed is filled with seemai karuvelam trees (prosopis juliflora) and water hyacinth in several portions, including near Arumbakkam. Such major desilting operation was last carried out in 2017-18.
With the clock ticking down to the Lok Sabha election counting day on Tuesday, opposing fronts are perceptibly edgy and poised to continue the rancorous skirmishing that marked the campaign season in Kerala. The United Democratic Front, led by the Congress, is seemingly basking in the “interim victory” granted by various exit polls. The UDF discerns that its poll strategy of turning the polls foremostly into a damning referendum on the Left Democratic Front government’s perceived failures rather than BJP’s “divisive politics” at the national level stood a fighting chance of paying off.