Construction of an aqueduct, one of the important components of the flood prevention project, has resumed in the city with the Public Works Department (PWD) planning to complete it in the next four months.
Construction of the aqueduct came to a halt over a year back, pending government approval for a few design changes. The aqueduct, a unique structure in terms of design and size in the State, runs for a distance of 360 metres, built over 36 piers at a gap of 10 metres each. The structure will have a capacity to carry about 700 cusecs of water. The pier caps have been constructed but critical works of joining the entry and exit points of the duct remain incomplete.
The structure is one of the components of the Rs.253.71-crore flood control project executed by the Public Works Department in Tiruchi, Karur and Ariyalur districts. The aqueduct will regulate water flow into the Uyyakondan river at the Puthur weir and also flood discharge from the Koraiyar directly into the Kudamuritti river, thereby preventing flooding of low-lying colonies in the city.
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The confluence of two rivers at the spot, from where the Kudamuritti river originates, often witnesses a huge surge of flood discharge during monsoon at the weir. The existing regulatory system is found to be inadequate to handle the flood discharge.
With the release of the water being closed in the Uyyakondan river since June 1, the PWD authorities were planning to utilise the closure period to complete the works on the riverbed before the next irrigation season.
“We have planned to complete the works at the ground level before the release of water for next season so that work can go on the higher level even after the release of water,” a PWD officer told
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PWD sources said that once the aqueduct was completed it would also provide a link across the Uyyakondan river to the Koraiyar river bank. Thus, a new motorable road would be established between Dheeran Nagar on the Dindigul National Highway and the Cantonment area.