Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Tuesday said projects worth ₹600 crore were being implemented to build check dams across canals and rivers in the State.
Speaking after raising the shutters of the Mettur dam for irrigation in the delta region, Mr. Palaniswami said, “The State government is making efforts to conserve rainwater and avoid its run-off. We have allocated ₹1,000 crore to build check dams across canals and rivers in the State, of which work on projects to the tune of ₹600 crore is going on.”
He said five check dams would be built across the Cauvery, and that the State government would implement the Cauvery-Godavari river interlinking scheme. “The State would get 125 tmc of water through this scheme,” he added.
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“Through lift irrigation, excess water from Mettur would be used to fill lakes and waterbodies in Gengavelli, Yercaud and Attur Assembly constituencies. Also, between Mettur and Karur, water would be carried to waterbodies on both sides through lift irrigation for the benefit of farmers. The project is estimated to cost ₹25,000 crore,” Mr. Palaniswami said.
Water release
The CM said the State government had requested the Centre’s permission to repair canals in the delta region. He said that once the permission was granted, all canals in the delta region would be given concrete lining, and that 20% of water could be saved this way.
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Accompanied by Ministers K.A. Sengottaiyan, K.P. Anbazhagan, K.C. Karuppannan, V.Saroja and M.R. Vijayabhaskar, Mr. Palaniswami raised the shutters of the Mettur dam to release water for irrigation in the delta region .
At 4 p.m., the water level at the dam was 105.64 ft against a total scale of 120 ft, and the stored capacity of water at the dam was 72,344 mcft. The dam had an inflow of 2,00,000 cusecs, and the inflow at Biligundlu was 80,000 cusecs. The outflow into the river was 10,000 cusecs and 500 cusecs was released to the canal.
Around 3,000 cusecs was released on Tuesday morning, gradually rising to 10,000 cusecs. About 6.5 lakh hectares of agricultural land in 12 districts were expected to benefit from the release of water, officials said.
As much as 1,000 cusecs would be released to the east-west canal for 137 days, and 45,000 acres in Salem, Namakkal and Erode would benefit from it.
Monsoon factor
According to a press release, 329.61 tmc ft would be required to irrigate 6.5 lakh hectares of land in the delta region.
The government is planning to meet 220 tmc ft of the overall requirement through the Mettur dam and 119.22 tmc ft through the northeast monsoon rain.
Besides, 50 MW would be generated at the dam power house and 200 MW at the tunnel power house here. Around 210 MW would be generated at the six barrages, a press release said.