As per the orders of the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Thiru C. Joseph Vijay, the Hon'ble Minister for Rural Development and Water Resources, Thiru N. Anand, will conduct a field inspection and launch desilting and maintenance works of waterbodies in Chennai and its suburban areas on Monday (27.07.2026). *********** As per the orders of the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Thiru C. Joseph Vijay, the Hon'ble Minister for Rural Development and Water Resources will conduct a field inspection and launch desilting and maintenance works of waterbodies in Chennai and its surrounding areas on Monday (27.07.2026). During this special three-day inspection, desilting and maintenance works will be launched at a total of six key locations. All necessary technical and on-ground arrangements have been made by the Department for this purpose. Further, large corporates and volunteers will also take part in this exercise, extending their social contribution. Chennai has rivers such as the Cooum, Adyar and Kosasthalaiyar; drainage channels such as the Buckingham Canal and Okkiyam Madavu; lakes such as Velachery Lake, Puzhal Lake, Narayanapuram Lake, Adambakkam Lake and Kovilambakkam Lake; and estuaries such as Adyar, Cooum and Muttukadu. Chennai has 60 km of rivers, 54 km of canals, and 3,700 hectares of lakes. It is essential that these be properly desilted and maintained. Accordingly, as per the orders of the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, and under the guidance of the Hon'ble Minister for Rural Development and Water Resources, these works will be undertaken by the Water Resources Department with the participation of large corporates and volunteers. These works are planned to be completed before the onset of the monsoon. On the first day of this planned field inspection, Monday (27.07.2026), the stretch of the Cooum river near Koyambedu and Okkiyam Madavu at Okkiyam Thoraipakkam village, Sholinganallur Taluk, will be inspected. On the second day, Tuesday (28.07.2026), the stretch of the Adyar river near Manapakkam and the Southern Buckingham Canal near Sholinganallur Akkarai bridge will be inspected. On the third day, Wednesday (29.07.2026), Velachery Lake and Narayanapuram Lake will be inspected. The Hon'ble Minister for Rural Development and Water Resources, Thiru N. Anand, will inspect the desilting works and launch the field operations at each of these locations. MLAs, Chief Secretary of the Water Resources Department Dr. Sathyabrata Sahu IAS, Water Resources Department engineers, representatives of large corporates, voluntary organisations, volunteers and the general public will participate in and grace this event. Issued By: - DIPR, Secretariat, Chennai – 9