Work to rejuvenate irrigation tank near Walajah town begins

The Hindu

10-05-2025

Work on rejuvenation of the irrigation tank, which is maintained by the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), at Thenkadapanthangal village near Walajah town in Ranipet commenced on Saturday.
Minister for Handlooms and Textiles R. Gandhi laid the foundation stone for the work in the presence of Collector J. U. Chandrakala. 'Work on deepening the tank will be done. It will help to collect excess rainwater discharged from storm water drains in the surrounding villages and from the hillock during monsoon,' C. Priya, Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE), DRDA (Arcot), told The Hindu.
Officials of DRDA said that strengthening the bund of the tank is the major work that will be done as part of the work. It will help to prevent inundation of surrounding villages during monsoon.
At present, the bund is around two metres in height and 2.5 metres wide. The rejuvenation work will increase the total height to three metres. More importantly, the width and height of the bund will be evenly maintained in the tank area as part of the work. Such evenness of the bund will help to store at least additional 5,000 cubic metres of water.
Spread over 17 hectares, the rejuvenation of the tank, which has a total capacity of 1.5 lakh cubic meter of water, is being undertaken under the Rehabilitation and Restoration of Lakes scheme 2024-25 at a cost of Rs 6.62 lakh. Desilt and deepening of the tank will be done to its original depth of four metres.
Existing inlets in the tank will be revamped for free flow of rainwater from storm water drains in the villages. Inlets are 10 ft wide and run to a distance of one kilometres.
A tiled walkers' path on the bund of the tank will be laid. Seating arrangements, solar powered LED streetlights, a compound wall and signages on the bund are also being done. Saplings will be procured free of cost from the Department of Horticulture and farmers to plant around the tank. A children's park, play area and watchtowers on the open space of the tank will also be part of the work.
DRDA has 26 tanks in the district. In this regard, three tanks including Thenkadapanthangal tank have been taken up for rejuvenation. At present, more than 15,000 residents in at least eight surrounding villages, depend on the tank for consumption. Borewells were laid around the bund of the tank by local bodies to meet water needs for its residents. It also helps in increasing ground water level to 3 kms radius in its proximity.