North Chennai’s canals clogged again

Garbage seen floating in Kodungaiyur Canal in Muthamizh Nagar on June 12, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

A few months after complaints about garbage and debris contaminating canals came in, the issue has come up once again. In Kodungaiyur and Ezhil Nagar, plastic bottles, broken bricks, and rotting waste are filling the drains meant to carry rainwater run off. Thick weeds have taken over parts of the canals, stopping water from flowing and making the area smell bad.

“In Kodungaiyur Canal close to Muthamizh Nagar, broken plastic waste, tubelights, thermocol and cement bags are seen floating and reaching the brim of the canal. Every year, people living near canals face flooding during monsoon. But even now, months before the monsoon, the drains remain full of trash. This happens again and again,” said L.M.Jaiganesh, an activist in North Chennai.

“Similarly, in Ezhil Nagar, the small canal that connects to the bigger Captain Cotton Canal is covered with weeds. The machines used by GCC do not clean the waste and construction debris below the bridge here, blocking a narrow but crucial water passage, thus causing more flooding. This canal is supposed to carry extra water away, but now it looks more like a dumping ground. Apart from the water hyacinth, weeds growing between debris and waste have also been blocking the canals, but have not been removed. Some of the waste is thrown by motorists plying in the nearby roads, and household wastewater flows illegally through pipes that have not been removed by Metro Water Department,” he added.

If nothing is done soon, the same problems will return with the rains: waterlogging, dirty streets, and the spread of diseases, Mr. Jaiganesh warned. He added: Pre and post cleaning surveys at canals by measuring its width of silts removed from the canal every year must be done, and GCC must strictly monitor the canals by using drone shots.

In April, Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) officials said CCTV cameras would be set up in 60 places to stop people from throwing garbage into canals. But residents say they are still waiting for this to be implemented.