Nirupama Viswanathan By Express News Service The Chennai city corporation is to set up 'water body monitoring' committees at the zonal level to monitor the water bodies under its purview. These committees are also set to inspect illegal sewage connections to Storm Water Drains (SWDs) and block them. "We have asked our engineers to inform metro water engineers on identifying illegal sewage connections so that they will be able to facilitate connection to the underground drainage system instead," said a corporation official, adding that violators would also be penalised on the spot. In a 2017 amendment to the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919, the fines for illegal connections were fixed at Rs 5,000 for ordinary (ground+two floors) residential buildings and Rs 10,000 for ordinary commercial buildings. The fine for special (ground+four floors) were fixed at Rs 25,000 for residential buildings and Rs 50,000 for commercial buildings. Whereas for multi storeyed residential buildings, a fine of Rs 1 lakh is to be imposed and Rs 2 lakhs for commercial buildings. The committee will comprise of assistant engineers and sanitary inspectors and will be chaired by the zonal officers. Apart from disconnecting illegal sewage connections to SWDs, the committee's roles include prevention of dumping of waste in the water bodies, looking for damage in infrastructure including walkways and fencing and preventing encroachments. The civic body is also looking to rope in representatives of Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) to be part of these committees. "We have asked committee members to coordinate with our electrical engineers to ensure that the area around the water bodies are well-lit. We are looking to encourage walking during night time after dinner for which the residents also need to take ownership of the water bodies in their localities. It is for this that we need the help of RWAs," said the official. Enabling inflow and outflow. The city corporation has 210 water bodies under its purview. Corporation officials said that during the recent rains, overflowing water in three of the renovated ponds began to flow in the reverse direction. "We faced this issue in a pond in Jalladiampet and two others in OMR and ECR," said a Corporation official. To avoid this, the committees have been asked to check the feasibility of creating pits before the inlet canal which will also help in augmenting storage. Another senior corporation official said that the city corporation was also looking at the possibility of implementing the 'Miyawaki' method of ecological engineering around these water bodies.

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