Mon Mar 17 17:32:39 UTC 2025: ## Chennai to Dredge Waterways to Combat Flooding
**Chennai, March 18, 2025** – The Chennai Corporation is set to begin dredging the Otteri Nullah and Virugambakkam Canal with ₹60 crore in funding from the German development bank, KfW. This initiative aims to mitigate flooding ahead of the northeast monsoon.
The project, following a completed bathymetry survey and detailed project report, will dredge the waterways to a depth of 2.5 meters. While KfW provides the majority of the funding, the Corporation will utilize other sources to reconstruct 17 old bridges identified as bottlenecks to water flow. These bridges, located across various areas including Anna Nagar, Otteri, Purasawalkam, Virugambakkam, and Arumbakkam, will be demolished and rebuilt to improve drainage.
Seven bridges along the 10.7 km Otteri Nullah and ten along the 6.36 km Virugambakkam Canal are slated for reconstruction in the first phase. The Corporation is yet to decide on the removal of encroachments along the waterways, a significant concern raised by residents. The project addresses the varying widths of the waterways, ranging from 2.5 meters to 10 meters for the Otteri Nullah and an average of 13.5 meters for the Virugambakkam Canal. Discussions are ongoing this week to finalize the project timeline.
First Piper 