The Water Resources Department will start work next week on the reconstruction of the dilapidated check dam across the clean stretch of the Cooum near Sorancheri.
The Cooum remains a major water source for Tiruvallur district. The stretch of the river near the recently renovated check dam at Korattur still has flow.
Officials said the check dam would be built at the 39th km of the Cooum and about 7 km downstream of the Korattur check dam. “We have already dismantled the damaged structure. A ring bund would be formed to begin construction of the check dam as the river bed has a flow following recent rain spell,” said an official.
The new structure would come up across the 85 m wide river and it would be of 1.5 metre height at Sorancheri. Several villages depend on borewells drilled near the river bed for drinking water needs.
The water table near the check dams in areas like Jamin Korattur has improved over the past few months. The water table has improved from a depth of 40 feet to 27-28 feet now.
The check dam at Sorancheri would store about 10 million cubic feet of water and help enrich the depleting water table due to urbanisation, the officials said.
Crops like paddy, groundnut and brinjals are cultivated in the villages along the river. The storage structure would ensure water stagnation for nearly 1.5 km upstream. “We plan to complete the ₹5-crore project before the onset of the northeast monsoon,” the official said.
There was more scope of building check dams in the clean stretch. Estimates are being prepared for another storage structure near Adigathur, which would cater to the drinking water needs of Tiruvallur.
