Chennai, Sep 7 : The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is setting up a sponge park at the football ground in Mathur MMDA Colony, combining flood mitigation with recreational facilities.

The project involves building large underground rainwater harvesting tanks with a kabaddi court, football pitch, jogging track, and tiered seating on top, creating a multi-use public space.

For the first time, a project of this scale is being implemented in a football ground. Covering 1.89 acres, the Mathur development will house underground ecobloc rainwater harvesting tanks and tunnels with a storage capacity of 12 lakh litres.

The Rs 8.06 crore initiative is funded under the Urban Flood Risk Mitigation Project with support from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund.

Construction began on July 24 and is scheduled for completion in 12 months. The work is being executed in phases, covering the installation of rainwater harvesting structures, civil works, and landscaping.

The completed facility will allow the football ground to function as a sponge, capturing stormwater during rain while serving as a hub for sports and leisure throughout the year.

This initiative builds on earlier efforts by GCC to tackle waterlogging using advanced rainwater harvesting technology. The Corporation has already installed underground storage tanks of five lakh litres each in eight city playgrounds, including Model School Road, St. Mary's Road, Trustpuram, Indira Nagar, Natesan Road, Balmoral, Crescent Road in Shenoy Nagar East, and Mayor Ramanathan Road. In addition, smaller 3,000-litre tanks have been set up in 770 parks across Chennai, ensuring that no waterlogging occurred in those areas during recent rains.

To scale up the initiative, similar structures are being established in 1,000 public spaces in the Kosasthalaiyar basin for Rs 10 crore and in 2,000 locations in the Kovalam basin at Rs 20 crore. These projects are supported by the Asian Development Bank and Germany's KfW Bank.

The Mathur sponge park, however, is designed as a larger demonstration model that integrates both stormwater storage and community recreation.

With football and kabaddi facilities placed above the tanks and landscaped areas surrounding them, the project aims to serve the dual purpose of flood resilience and social well-being. Similar sponge parks are expected to be taken up in other flood-prone parts of the city in the future.

/IANS