Virudhunagar
Renovation of 65 irrigation tanks of Public Works Department under Kudimaramathu scheme in Virudhunagar district will ensure that rain water that gets collected in the tank would not go waste due to various structural shortcomings in the tanks, Virudhunagar Collector, A. Sivagnanam, said.
Inspecting a few tanks in Virudhunagar and Sattur Taluks, the Collector said that the original water holding capacity of the tanks have come down due to silt that have got collected over the years.
“The present scheme being implemented at a cost of ₹27.54 crore will ensure that the sluices are set right and the bunds are strengthened to store the present maximum water level,” he said. However, restoration of the tanks to their original water-holding capacities will take a longer period, he added.
The Collector said that the works are being implemented by the water users association with their 10% contribution.
The Collector, along with PWD engineers from Vaippar Basin Division, inspected Ondipulinaickanoor tank, Mudithalai tank, Ayyampatti and Nalli Big Tank that are being desilted at a cost of ₹ 1.21 crore that would benefit 310 hectares of ayacut.
The Collector said that farmers would be allowed to take the top soil for their farmlands. The officials have been instructed to conduct survey of the tanks and provide boundary markings.
However, not many farmers turned up during the Collector’s inspection. A PWD official said that the farming was not a major occupation in the rain-fed regions and they had gone for their jobs in fireworks factories.
Along with the Kudimarathu works in 65 tanks, another 27 tanks across the district have been taken up for such renovation works with the help of voluntary organisations.
Similar works in smaller ponds and ooranis would start in non -PWD tanks from August to collect rain water.
Revenue Divisional Officer (Sattur), Kalimuthu, Tahsildar, Renganathan, District Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare Officer, Jegadeeswaran, PWD, Executive Engineer, K. Gurusamy, Assistant Executive Engineer, A.V. Bharatidasan and Assistant Engineer, S. Sethuramalingam, were present.
