Floods turn spotlight on Tamirabharani

Tamirabharani-Karumeniyar-Nambiyar river linking project is one of the key initiatives

December 02, 2017 11:30 pm | Updated 11:30 pm IST - Chennai

  In spate:  Traffic was banned on Saturday on the old bridge across the Tamirabharani near Thoothukudi.

In spate: Traffic was banned on Saturday on the old bridge across the Tamirabharani near Thoothukudi.

The recent flooding in the Tamirabharani has again reinforced the need for revival of a host of projects aimed at conserving and storing flood water. This is intended to mitigate the summer water scarcity, which has become an annual feature in Tiruneveli and Thoothukudi districts.

The projects include raising the bund of Papanasam and Manimuthar dams; linking of Tamirabharani-Karumeniyar-Nambiyar rivers and forming a network of tanks and minor water bodies in northern parts of Tirunelveli.

When the catchment area of the Tamirabharani receives its usual share of rain, nearly 13.5 thousand million cubic feet (tmc) of water (enough to irrigate two lakh acres of agricultural land) flows to the sea near the Srivaikuntam Anaicut, the last of the eight major anaicuts across the Tamirabharani. “At least 30 TMC of water would have gone waste by now,” says K.S. Radhakrishnan, spokesperson of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and who hails from Tirunelveli district.

A senior government official recalls that about a year ago, when M. Karunakaran was Tiruneveli Collector, he sent a proposal to the government for increasing the capacity of Papanasam and Manimuthar dams, both of which can now hold 11 TMC. It is time the proposal be given a fresh look. As the two dams are located in reserve forest areas with no records of human settlement, there would be no adverse impact on people. However, with regard to wildlife and other aspects of the ecosystem, there had to be a proper study.

A former Tiruneveli Collector says that initially, the government can take up removal of silt from the Karuppanadhi dam, having the capacity of around 125 million cubic feet (mcft) and this would increase the storage more quantity of water. Besides, this dam is easily accessible.

Those who served in the district are of the view that prior to taking up the linking of Tamiraparani-Karumeniyar-Nambiyar rivers, the capacity of the Papanasam dam has to be increased. About eight years ago, when the then DMK government took up the project of linking the three rivers, people in upper reaches such as Ambasamudram had opposed it. Their apprehensions should not be disregarded.

Proposed alignment

Mr. Radhakrishnan says the proposed alignment of the Parambikulam-Achankovil-Vaipar terminates near Tenkasi and this can be stretched to cover areas such as Kadaynallur, Puliyangudi, Vasudevanallur and Sankarankoil in Tiruneveli district; Kovilpatti of Thoothukudi and Rajapalayam of Virudhunagar. Besides, a network of tanks and minor water bodies should be formed along the Ambasamudram-Tenkasi stretch.

While all these measures would go a long way in reducing the problem of water shortage, an official in the Public Works Department points out that in times of unprecedented heavy rain, one cannot save all that goes waste to the sea. For example, on Thursday, Pechiparai dam in Kanniyakumari district received an inflow of over 87,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs). Most of the water had to be released to the sea.

The PWD official adds that even though the capacity of Karuppanadhi is less and the silt removal will improve storage marginally, the dredging work should begin early, considering the perpetual struggle for water by people in the southern belt.

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