Relief for OMR, as CMRL clears Okkiyam Maduvu

Chennai: The Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) and its adjoining areas can now heave a sigh of relief, Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has cleared debris from all five vents of Okkiyam Maduvu, a major flood carrier for South Chennai areas, creating at least 80 metres of space for water to flow.
Metro had closed four out of five vents to carry out pile works on the two-lane road on both the upstream and downstream parts of the waterway.The CMRL will proceed with the remaining work after the monsoon.
Greater Chennai Corporation zonal officer D Rajasekar said the clearance of the five vents will help to improve water flow from Perumbakkam, Pallikaranai, Perungudi, and Velachery areas into the Okkiyam Maduvu, a 2.8 km long channel which carries water at up to 12,000 cusecs from the Pallikaranai marshland to the Buckingham canal.
"Metro's work here is over. Now, the water resources department has to remove hyacinth in parts of the waterway," said Rajasekar. He added that TNRDC is also building bigger drains for OMR while the highways will extend its radial road drain to Okkiyam Maduvu, carrying out a road-cut in the OMR.
The CMRL, after this monsoon, will demolish the existing waterway bridge and build a new one, to a width of 200 metres with an additional vertical clearance of 1.5 metres. The work is part of constructing a two-lane road on the bridge, each for traffic on both sides.
The 45-km Madhavaram-Siruseri Sipcot corridor in three line of phase two, covering the core city, will pass through this stretch with multiple stations on the OMR, including Okkiyampet, Karapakkam, Okkiyam Thoraipakkam, and Sholinganallur Metro.
The 44-km Madhavaram-Sholinganallur line of corridor five, covering the western city areas, will connect at Sholinganallur Metro too. CMRL has constructed viaducts in some parts of the OMR where they have also removed barricades on the road.