Chief Minister M.K. Stalin held two high‑level meetings on September 8 and September 22 with departmental officials to review monsoon‑readiness measures and issued specific orders to desilt the estuaries at Ennore, near Napier Bridge on the Cooum, Besant Nagar on the Adyar and Muttukadu in Kovalam, and to keep these points under continuous monitoring.
Following the directives, the Water Resources Department has taken up 200 flood‑mitigation projects costing an estimated ₹42 crore, of which nearly 48 % of the work has been completed, according to the commissioner.
At the Adyar estuary, officials inspected ongoing desilting work and highlighted the river’s dynamic nature: the 17.7 km stretch within the corporation’s limits can receive up to 70,000 cusecs during peak flooding, with a recorded flow of 72,000 cusecs, far above its normal capacity of 35,000‑40,000 cusecs.
Stormwater management on Arcot Road is being limited to night‑time operations because of the Metro Rail project, with a contingency plan that deploys 100‑horsepower pumps to clear water where gaps remain.
In the Pallikaranai catchment, authorities have planned cut‑and‑cover drains and weir structures to handle runoff from altered urban water bodies, while large campuses and metro stations in the 219 identified low‑lying locations will use staggered pumping protocols to avert immediate road flooding.
Overall, the city has mobilised 1,320 motor pumps and 72 rescue boats, and the Fisheries Department has received cash advances to enable rapid response to any flooding emergencies.
A press release detailed that the first phase of desilting cleared 1,10,211 silt‑catch pits, with a second phase covering 65,076 pits. Stormwater drain connectivity works are underway at 105 missing spots, spanning 922 metres; 37 locations are finished and work continues at 68 others.
Desilting efforts extend across 1,683 km of stormwater drains, with 1,102 km already completed. Water‑hyacinth removal and desilting have been carried out in 44 GCC‑maintained waterways, 13 Water Resources Department canals, and the Cooum, Adyar and Buckingham canals.
Improvement works covering 8,439 metres have been launched on the Captain Cotton Canal, Secretariat Colony Canal, Otteri Nullah and Virugambakkam Canal, with 6,977 metres finished to date.
Between January 1 and September 21, 2026, crews pruned 60,141 trees to improve drainage, and an online volunteer registration system has been set up to augment community involvement. Monitoring is coordinated through Integrated Command and Control Centres at the Ripon Buildings complex, the GCC headquarters and three regional offices.