Latest news with #RehabilitationandRestorationofLakes
The Hindu
6 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
Minister Duraimurugan opens canal rejuvenated to prevent flooding and improve irrigation
Minister for Water Resources, Duraimurugan on Wednesday inaugurated the restored left canal of Mordhana Dam, which is maintained by Water Resources Department (WRD), in Gudiyatham town near Katpadi in Vellore. Officials of WRD, who carried out the work, at a cost of ₹ 2.5 crore, said that the restoration work was a long-standing demand of farmers and residents in the region as desilting work, which is being done for the first time since the dam was built in 2001, will help to prevent inundation of Gudiyatham and Katpadi taluks during monsoon. 'The restoration will help to prevent any wastage of water through weeds. Farmers will get water for irrigation on time as water can freely flow in the canal after its restoration,' said B. Pandi, a farmer. At present, total storage capacity of the reservoir, which is built across the Koundinya river, a tributary of the Palar, is 261.3 mcft. WRD officials said that initially, desilting work has been completed on the left canal, which runs 31.84 kms distance, covering at least 19 villages with around 1,710.92 hectares of farmland. This is mainly due to the large tract of land under cultivation along the left canal, which is three metres wide. While water from the Koundinya river directly irrigates around 140 acres, another 220 acres in the region are irrigated through water from the canal. 'Thick vegetation on the canal bed has prevented steady flow of water. It resulted in breach of its bund, resulting in inundation. The work has been completed ahead of the northeast monsoon,' R. Ramkumar, Assistant Engineer (AE), PWD (Katpadi), told The Hindu. As part of work, WRD officials said that desilting of canal bed was done under the Rehabilitation and Restoration of Lakes scheme 2024-25. Deposited silt on the canal bed is removed to a depth of three metres to ensure steady water flow on it. Growth of thick vegetation especially on bund and slope of the bund has also been removed. During field study, WRD officials said they found breach of the canal at least in 10 spots on the bund, which is 5 metres in height. Protection wall, which will be six feet in height, to a distance of 500 metres at these spots has been built to prevent any water seepage during monsoon.
The Hindu
10-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Work to rejuvenate irrigation tank near Walajah town begins
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.
