The project to link rivers Tamirabharani, Karumaeniyar and Nambiyar would be revived, said Chairman of Tamil Nadu Assembly Assurance Committee I.S. Inbadurai.
He told reporters after inspecting one of the project sites near here on Tuesday that the project, which was launched during the DMK regime without any assurance from the Centre, had to be stalled for want of funds. The AIADMK government got assurance and ₹ 217 crore from the Centre for executing third phase of the work. It would be revived by the end of December or January so that it would be completed by 2020.
The project was on an outlay of ₹ 369 crore to use about 2.765 tmcft (20 % of 13.76 thousand million cubic feet) water available in the Tamirabharani every year. The surplus water would be diverted through the Kannadian Channel and a 73 km-long flood carrier channel would be formed.
As the 6.5-km long Kannadian Channel’s carrying capacity was increased from 450 cubic feet per second (cusecs) to 3,680 cusecs, formation of a new channel to be dug up to M.L. Theri, a sand dune, near Sattankulam in Thoothukudi district, from Kannadian Channel at Vellankuzhi was started. The proposed canal can carry 3,200 cusecs of water.
There are many canals that will connect the 73-km-long canal with a host of tanks in the basins of Karumeniyar and Nambiyar and the Manimuthar’s tributaries such as Pachchaiyaar, Koraiyaar and Yelumichchaiyaar. The main canal would link with the river Pachayar.
When the project is completed, it will benefit 50 villages in Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts, of which five are in Palyamkottai taluk; 17 in Nanguneri taluk; 10 in Radhapuram taluk; 16 in Sattankulam taluk and two in Tiruchendur taluk. With this surplus water, irrigation facilities can be provided to about 23,040 hectares in these districts.
Of about 1,076 hectares of land required for the project, 994 hectares fell under the category of dry land and 14.5 hectares under wet land. About 68 hectares were poromboke lands.
Since the State government released funds as foundation stone was laid in February 2009 by then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, the first two phases of the project could be completed. After the change of guard in 2011, the project was shelved. The then MLA of Radhapuram M. Appavu approached the High Court and got a few directions to the State government in support of the project. The undue delay has increased the project cost from ₹ 369 crore to ₹ 872 crore.
The committee members, accompanied by Collector Shilpa Prabhakar Satish and Sub-Collector, Cheranmahadevi, P. Akash, visited a few more development works and the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project.
