The Water Resources Department is looking to gain technical support and have a tie-up for funding with the European Union to sustain urban water resources.
The department recently held a stakeholders’ meeting with the EU delegation to India and India-EU Urban Partnership on urban sustainability and smart city.
Officials of the WRD said a detailed report on the discussions with the EU delegation would be submitted to enable the State government to chalk out new projects and form a water authority for better framework and implementation.
Various challenges and needs of the urban waterbodies in Chennai were discussed during the meeting. Plugging of sewage outfalls, protection of urban channels to avoid illegal dumping of solid waste and real-time monitoring mechanism of water quality and storage in waterbodies were some of the challenges faced in urban lakes.
The recent challenges and solutions for drought and flood risk management in Chennai were highlighted. “We spoke about the effects of climate change on water resources and projects being chalked out to mitigate the impact. We discussed socio-economic impact of urbanisation of waterbodies and rivers and schemes to restore polluted rivers like Cooum,” said an official.
The restoration and climate adoptive remodelling of urban waterbodies by linking surplus water from Thirunindravur to Retteri was one of the solutions.
“We discussed about success stories of river rejuvenation in Germany and riverfront development to connect people with waterways could be replicated in our scenario. Strategies to generate revenue and maintain cleanliness need to be developed,” the official added.
The experts have identified issues that need focus, including revival of urban tanks and restoration of hydraulic connectivity to make Chennai flood and drought resilient and developing climate resilient water security plan for cities of Tamil Nadu.
The WRD and signed a letter of intent for sustainable growth with the Danish Environmental Protection Agency earlier to strengthen the bilateral ties with Denmark in the water sector.
