Demolition Drive starts to restore two rivers in Vaniyambadi

The demolition drive is part of the £ 9-crore project to restore the Kallar and Chinna Palar rivers. | Photocredit: special arrangement

Work to demolish buildings that belong to the Washmen community on Chinna Palar, an important tributary of Palar, started by the Water Resources Department (WRD) in Vaniyambadi on Tuesday (June 3, 2025).

The demolition drive is part of the £ 9-crore project to restore the Kallar and Chinna Palar rivers, which are important tributaries of Palar in the city. The rivers flow through the city before they meet with the Palar along the Chennai-Bengaluru highway.

“The demolition of structures along the Chinna Palar River Bund will create more space for flood water drainage. The work will be completed in December 2025,” said J. Pavithran, assistant -engineer, WRD (Vaniyambadi), said The Hindu.

According to WRD officials, affected persons can look for an alternative place of the district administration.

The officials said that the existing buildings, located on a plot of one hectare along the river, were built by the district administration more than two decades ago. These had benefited more than 250 families of the Washmen community in Vaniyambadi and adjacent villages. The structures, however, hindered the current of rainwater during the monsoon, which led to flooding of different areas in Vaniyambadi.

They said that the work, undertaken under the rehabilitation and the recovery of the Meer Scheme 2024-25, includes the removal of sludge on the river bed to a distance of 3 km. This would help to make the riverbed uniform, causing a smooth water flow. The bund of the rivers will also be reinforced with barriers to prevent infringements.

They added that the rivers stood for another important challenge: waste deposit. It was estimated that about 210 tonnes of waste were thrown into the water bodies. To curb such a practice, both sides of the rivers would be fenced with a 6-foot high barrier to a distance of 1.5 km.

Moreover, more than 30 inlets that waste water from the city in the river would be closed permanently, the officials said.

Currently, the non-lake parties are running around 3 km in the city. Each river is approximately 45 meters wide on average with a depth of 4.25 meters.

Officials said the Kallar River 3,800 CUSECS Water and Chinna Palar could discharge around 8,500 CUSECS Water. Both water countries help prevent flooding of the city during the monsoon.