4 months ago
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The Water Resources Department (WRD) has commenced the ₹77.30-crore task to conception 2 caller cheque dams and repair existing ones crossed the Palar successful Tirupattur.
Officials of the WRD said the caller cheque dams crossed the stream astatine Amballur and Sangalikuppam villages would assistance forestall floods during monsoons. They would besides assistance store excess rainwater for irrigation. “While the caller cheque dams volition beryllium completed successful 18 months, different works specified arsenic restoration of existing cheque dams and pipe-laying works volition beryllium done by December 2026,” S. Balaji, Assistant Executive Engineer, WRD (Tirupattur), told The Hindu.
Vellore MP D.M. Kathir Anand laid the instauration for the works successful Tirupattur successful the beingness of District Collector K. Siva Soundaravalli. “Crops tin present beryllium cultivated for 3 seasons successful a twelvemonth arsenic the caller cheque dams will help recharge groundwater successful the surrounding villages,” said N. Kandan, a farmer.
Funded by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) nether the Permanent Floods Restoration Scheme 2024-25, the 2 cheque dams volition beryllium built astatine a outgo of ₹58.50 crore. On average, each cheque dam is 250 metres agelong and 1.2 metres high, with a full capableness of 2.51 mcft (million cubic feet). Each cheque dam tin discharge implicit 1 lakh cusecs of excess rainwater. At afloat capacity, h2o from each cheque dam tin screen astatine slightest 250 acres.
WRD officials said the 2 existing cheque dams, which were damaged during the 2021 floods, crossed the stream astatine Jafrabad and Kondai Oosi villages adjacent Ambur municipality would beryllium restored astatine a outgo of ₹8 crore. The retaining partition of these volition beryllium strengthened to forestall h2o seepage during monsoons.
In the coming days, WRD officials volition demolish a ample fig of encroachments connected some sides of the stream to reconstruct its archetypal width. After the demolition, bound stones volition beryllium erected connected the bunds of the restored stream to forestall aboriginal encroachments. Restoration of the river’s archetypal width volition assistance forestall inundation successful residential areas and farmland. This enactment volition beryllium carried retired astatine a outgo of ₹9.5 crore.
For farmers, the caller cheque dams and restoration works successful the stream volition assistance recharge astatine slightest 900 workplace wells successful the area. Around 20 farming villages volition payment arsenic the groundwater level volition summation successful astir a 3-km radius of the cheque dams. The cheque dams volition besides assistance irrigate 3,732 acres of farmland on the river, benefiting astatine slightest 3.4 lakh residents successful the region.
