Rehabilitation of irrigation systems in Kurangan Pallam Odai to be carried out at ₹15 crore
The State government has accorded administrative sanction for the rehabilitation of irrigation systems in Kurangan Pallam Odai (Hanuman Nadhi) at a total cost of ₹15 crore. This project will benefit an ayacut area spread across 9,000 acres in the taluks of Modakkurichi and Kodumudi.
The Odai is a rain-fed natural stream that originates at Devanampalayam near Hanumanpalli village in Modakkurichi taluk, runs for 39 km, and joins the Cauvery river at Vengambur in Kodumudi taluk. It receives water during the North-East monsoon and from seepage from the earthen Lower Bhavani Project (LBP) main canal during the irrigation period. The stream typically dries up between May and September every year, when water supply from the LBP canal is stopped. Over the past 20 years, seven check dams have been constructed across the stream to harness floodwaters and seepage.
The stream's irrigation system is a lifeline for farmland in the two taluks, directly and indirectly irrigating around 9,000 acres. The Punjai Kalamangalam Canal, which originates from the Kurangan Pallam anicut at Elumathur village, runs for 12.60 km and was designed to irrigate an ayacut area of 3,840 acres. However, since these systems fall under non-system irrigation, there are no funds allocated for their regular maintenance. Only a portion of the stream was rehabilitated under the Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernisation Project (TNIAMP) in 2018.
Due to leakages, the check dams can no longer retain water, while the water spread areas have become heavily silted and overrun by Juliflora vegetation. Since the stream remains almost perennial due to seepage, people living nearby use the stream daily for bathing and other domestic activities. The foundations of bridges across the stream have also eroded at various locations and require urgent repairs to extend their lifespan by a few decades.
The Water Resources Department submitted a proposal for rehabilitation works, which includes the construction of bund protection walls, desilting and strengthening of check dams, installation of silt traps, jungle clearance, construction of bathing ghats, reconstruction of canal sluices, and provision of a trough section and protection walls along the canal embankment. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin announced the project during his visit to Erode on December 20, 2024.
A senior engineer from the Water Resources Department told The Hindu that once the works are completed, it will ensure the free flow of water, thereby restoring the stream's original water-carrying capacity. He added that the conveyance efficiency of the Punjai Kalamangalam Canal would be significantly improved through the construction of the trough section in the embankment reaches of the branch canals. Leakages in the damaged structures will also be eliminated following the reconstruction of cross-masonry structures, he added.
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