Demolition drive begins to restore two rivers in Vaniyambadi
Work to demolish buildings belonging to the washermen community on Chinna Palar, a key tributary of Palar, by the Water Resources Department (WRD) in Vaniyambadi began on Tuesday (June 3, 2025).
The demolition drive is part of the ₹9-crore project to restore Kallar and Chinna Palar rivers, which are key tributaries of Palar in the town. The rivers flow through the town before converging with the Palar along the Chennai-Bengaluru Highway.
'Demolition of structures along the Chinna Palar river bund will create more space for floodwater discharge. The work will be completed by December 2025,' J. Pavithran, Assistant Engineer, WRD (Vaniyambadi), told The Hindu.
According to WRD officials, affected persons can seek alternative place from the district administration.
The officials said the existing buildings, located on a one-acre plot along the river, were built by the district administration over two decades ago. These had benefitted more than 250 families of the washermen community in Vaniyambadi and adjoining villages. However, the structures hindered the flow of rainwater during monsoon, leading to inundation of several areas in Vaniyambadi.
They said the work, undertaken under the Rehabilitation and Restoration of Lakes Scheme 2024-25, involves removing silt deposited on the riverbed to a distance of 3 km. This would help make the riverbed uniform, ensuring smooth water flow. The bund of the rivers will also be bolstered with barriers to prevent encroachments.
They added that the rivers faced another key challenge: garbage dumping. Around 210 tonnes of garbage was estimated to be thrown into the waterbodies. In order to curb such practice, both sides of the rivers would be fenced-off using a 6-feet-tall barrier to a distance of 1.5 km.
Additionally, over 30 inlets that discharge sewage from the town into the river would be closed permanently, the officials said.
At present, the non-perennial rivers run for around 3 km in the town. Each river, on an average, is around 45 metres wide with a depth of 4.25 metres.
Officials said the Kallar river could discharge 3,800 cusecs of water and Chinna Palar around 8,500 cusecs of water. Both waterbodies help prevent inundation of the town during monsoon.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
2 hours ago
- The Hindu
Invite tenders for Polavaram–Banakacherla project by June-end, CM tells Water Resources Dept.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu instructed the officials of the Water Resources Department (WRD) to undertake the Polavaram–Banakacherla and other irrigation projects under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) and finalise the tenders by the end of this month while securing forest and environmental clearances in a time-bound manner. Addressing a review meeting at the Secretariat near here on Friday, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu said the officials should take steps for land acquisition for the Polavaram–Banakacherla project and that it would be undertaken by the Jal Harathi Corporation. Proposals for funding were sent to the Central government. Out of the total project cost of ₹81,900 crore, a sum of ₹40,950 crore would be sought as an EAP (External Aided Project) loan, and ₹16,380 crore as grants from the Central government. The State would mobilise ₹16,380 crore under HAM and contribute ₹8,190 crore as equity. POLAVARAM The Chief Minister wanted the diaphragm wall of the Polavaram project to be completed by the end of December 2025 and noted that the overall civil works were completed to the extent of 81.70%, of which a measly progress of 3.84% was achieved under the YSR Congress Party rule. Farming Further, Mr. Naidu told the officials to take immediate steps to commence agricultural activities in the Krishna and Godavari deltas and called for focus on increasing the groundwater levels, filling reservoirs, and efficient utilisation of water resources. He expressed dissatisfaction over the non-functioning of physio meters and AWS (Automatic Weather Station) sensors in some parts of the State and ordered that a sum of ₹30 crore be sanctioned immediately for purchasing new equipment. Water audit He stressed the need for scientific water auditing, and told the officials to issue district-level bulletins containing details of groundwater levels and water availability in the river basins. He suggested that ways to bring the Sileru river water to the Krishna delta be explored, and ordered that the Veligonda Stage - I works should be completed by June, 2026. Budameru works At a media briefing, Water Resources Minister Nimmala Rama Naidu said the Chief Minister sought an action plan to curb the menace of flooding of Vijayawada city by the Budameru rivulet, which included widening the discharge capacity of its diversion channel from the present 17,500 cusecs to 37,500 cusecs. Special Chief Secretaries G. Sai Prasad (Water Resources) and B. Rajasekhar (Agriculture), Chief Commissioner of Land Administration G. Jaya Lakshmi and other senior officials were present.
The Hindu
4 hours ago
- The Hindu
Teachers' union slams Bharathidasan University administration for not getting NAAC re-accreditation
Academicians in Tiruchi have raised concerns over the non-renewal of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) certification of the Bharathidasan University (BDU), whose validity lapsed in March 2024. According to a copy of the certificate shared with The Hindu, BDU had obtained A grade with a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 3.32 on a seven point scale, on April 1, 2019. The certificate was valid until March 31, 2024, five years from the date of issue. It was shocking that no serious effort had been made by the university administration to get re-accreditation by NAAC after it expired in March 2024. . This is a serious lapse,' P. David Livingstone, State president of Tamil Nadu Government Collegiate Teachers' Association (TNGCTA), said in a statement. NAAC evaluates higher educational institutions on their performance in areas such as educational processes and outcomes, curriculum coverage, teaching-learning processes, faculty, research, infrastructure, learning resources, student services, and financial well-being. Though it is not linked to the validity of courses offered by institutions, colleges and universities with NAAC accreditation are often eligible for funding from University Grants Commission (UGC). 'The absence of a regular Vice-Chancellor is cited as a reason for not applying for re-accreditation. But this cannot be fully accepted because in the past, the University of Madras and the Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, had obtained re-accreditation during the interim tenure of the V-C committee. The irony is that the university always takes stern action on autonomous colleges when there is a delay in renewing their autonomy status,' Mr. Livingstone added. The TNGCTA also criticised the former vice-chancellor M. Selvam for neglecting the issue during his extended tenure. Academicians pointed out that the absence of a NAAC certificate could affect the future of the Centre for Distance and Online Education, which offers around 60 degree and diploma programmes, and was a major source of revenue for the BDU. When contacted, BDU Vice-Chancellor Committee Member V. Rajesh Kannan, told The Hindu that the varsity was in the process of applying for re-accreditation. 'The Self-Study Report of the university, [used by NAAC to assess institutional performance] has been updated. A few more issues have to be verified from our side before our submission is complete. Though NAAC does not affect the validity of our degrees, it is not ideal for an institution to delay the renewal for too long. We hope to complete submission by the end of June,' he said.
The Hindu
6 hours ago
- The Hindu
Concerns arise over expansion of Theppakadu Elephant Camp in the Nilgiris
Conservationists and elephant experts have voiced their concern over the continued development of the Theppakadu Elephant Camp in the core area of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR). They are of the view that that the recent setting up of a township for 44 mahouts and their families, as well as plans to expand the camp itself into a 'world-class facility' may impact wildlife within the reserve. In a 2014 paper 'Prioritizing Elephant Corridors in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu,' authors K. Kannan, P.S. Jayakumar Thampy, Arunachalam, and B. Ramakrishnan write: 'The Theppakadu-Mandradiyar Corridor is situated in the southeastern part of MTR. It is a crucial elephant corridor that connects Mudumalai and Bandipur tiger reserves to the east of the former and also the Sigur Plateau. Moyar Gorge in the northern side and Morgan Betta in the southern side naturally constrict this corridor. Theppakadu tribal settlements, the forest elephant camp, and lodges are at the exact centre of the corridor, naturally preventing the free movement of elephants.' During Chief Minister M.K. Stalin's visit to Theppakadu camp last month, he told reporters that there were plans to further improve the facility, stating that the new developments would be announced in due time. This was after he inaugurated the township for mahouts. An elephant expert, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Hindu: 'The sudden expansion of the camp could sever the connectivity that allows elephants to move freely between Mudumalai's core and buffer zones, as well as Bandipur.' However, Mr. Ramakrishnan, one of the authors of the 2014 paper, the head of the department of wildlife biology at the Government Arts College in Udhagamandalam, and a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Asian elephant specialist group, disagrees with conservationists' concern over the camp's development severing elephant pathways. 'As per notifications, all four corridors within MTR are located only in the buffer zones and none are in the core area. There are five to six other points between Theppakadu and Thorapalli where elephants are known to cross the Moyar,' he said. But conservationists reiterated that corridors within core areas had been left out of notified elephant corridors precisely because they were believed to have already been 'secured' due to being in a highly protected area of the MTR core. 'Moreover, when there have been clampdowns on the construction of private resorts in the MTR buffer zone, it seems contradictory for the government to set up a township in the core area and ponder upgrading the elephant camp,' said a conservationist from the Nilgiris, adding that while the Supreme Court had ordered for illegal structures within the tiger reserve to be demolished, the government seemed to have free reign to construct structures at the elephant camp. Another conservation and landscape ecologist said, 'The core area is the most precious habitat for the elephant. The new constructions have ignored the fact that the site was in the core area of the elephant population and in the most important corridor in south India. How is it possible to reduce habitat and increase the human footprint at a reserve, when the Bandipur Tiger Reserve has set an example by building new facilities outside its protected area?' 'The Theppakadu camp and the mahout village should be shifted to the periphery of the core zone like in Thorapalli. This way, mahouts can have better access to services, and tourism facilities can also be developed. Such intense human presence in Theppakadu creates a bottleneck in the elephant corridor connecting Bandipur and Mudumalai. It increases disturbance to wildlife, pollution, and noise, while the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has also clearly laid out plans to phase out tourism from within the core areas of the reserve,' he added. Rules exist for development projects to be undertaken with permissions from different regulatory bodies. 'The rules are even stricter for development within the core areas of tiger reserves, where permissions have to be obtained from the NTCA,' said a prominent Tamil Nadu-based conservationist. 'As a general rule, concrete structures should be kept to a minimum within protected areas, particularly tiger reserves. Moreover, the pressures arising out of such activities and associated infrastructure will only be detrimental to wildlife and biodiversity,' he added. When contacted, R. Kiruba Shankar, Field Director of MTR, said the Forest Department did not need permission from the NTCA for the construction of houses, since these are for staff involved in the daily protection of the tiger reserve. He said houses were constructed near existing ones, and it had no major impact on wildlife movement in the area. 'The electric fencing put up around the site is only for the protection of people living there,' he said, adding that there are no plans to build any concrete structures to further improve the camp. 'Right now, the plans only involve some temporary structures,' he said, adding that the department would approach the NTCA for relevant permissions before taking up any further development at the camp.
