GCC to expand railway pond on Old Goodshed Road to 7.13 acre

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is awaiting a no-objection certificate from the Railways to undertake further improvements at the railway pond and the empty land surrounding it on Old Goodshed Road in the Tondiarpet Zone (IV).

The area around the waterbody has become a garbage dumping ground, where stray cattle roam.

An official said that earlier, there was no pond, and it was only an empty land where illegal activities would also take place, apart from open dumping.

“The land is owned by the Railways. Cleanliness is the GCC’s responsibility. An MCC [Micro Composting Centre], due to which there is also so much garbage, is also going to be closed. This had reduced after rejuvenation, costing ₹1.15 crore, was carried out,” the official added.

Eco-park to be set up

The civic body is also planning an eco-park in the area, he said.

The GCC proposes to expand the pond from 2.51 acres to a total of 7.13 acres. The total water storage capacity after expansion would be 2.77 crore cubic litres, which would come to 11.7 crore litres of water. This is to reduce inundation of surrounding areas, where there are nearly 50,000 residents, and improve groundwater levels.

The civic body also proposes to connect the pond to the Buckingham Canal through a culvert.