Nearly 1,290 acres of farmlands stand to get water for irrigation following the riverbed re-gradation works being carried out on Therkkar river in Tirumangalam taluk. The project, which was announced by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa at the annual conference of Collectors and police officers in December 2013, will be completed in the next few months.
The project, which is being carried out by the Public Works Department at a cost of Rs. 306 lakh, will seek to re-grade the riverbed for a distance of 7,800 metres from Sathangudi Anaicut to Melakottai Anaicut.
“We are now in the process of creating bunds on both sides of the riverbed and clearing encroachments along the course of the river. Earlier, it was impossible to even identify the spot where the river used to flow as the place was totally encroached upon and farmers had used parts of the riverbed for cultivation as well,” said S. Leelavathi, Assistant Executive Engineer, Gundar Sub-division, Tirumangalam.
Other smaller waterbodies in the area which include Sathangudi tank, Venkatasamudhiram tank, Thayaneri pond, Vadakarai tank, Soorankulam and Melakottai tank will be filled with water if the riverbed is re-graded and restored.
As part of the riverbed re-gradation, works are being carried out to build causeways at Venkatasamudhiram village and Vadakarai Anaicut at a cost of Rs. 85 lakh and 90 lakh respectively.
District Collector L. Subramanian, who inspected the works on Wednesday with officials from the revenue and PWD departments asked persons in the surrounding areas to cooperate and keep encroachments away from the river. “Farmers from seven places – Sathangudi, Kannukulam, Venkatasamudhiram, Tirumangalam, Melakottai, Natukottai and Karisalpatti – will benefit from this project which will be completed in the next few months,” he stated.
