Water was released from Sathanur reservoir on Wednesday into the left and right canals for irrigation.
Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Sevoor S. Ramachandran and District Collector K.S. Kandasamy operated the key system to open the sluice gates of the dam that is located 8 km away from the reservoir.
According to Public Works Department officials, water will be released in the river and distributed in the left and right bank canals from the pick up dam.
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The last time water was released from this reservoir was on January 23, 2019.
This time the release was delayed by 12 days.
The district administrations of Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram and Kallakurichi sent their letters after January 23 this year and the government order for the release was issued on January 31.
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These canals will irrigate 12,543 acres of agricultural lands for 35 days in four phases.
Total capacity
Water level at the storage point has reached 97.60 feet out its total capacity of 119 feet. The reservoir’s total capacity of storage is 7,321 million cubic feet and the current storage measured on Wednesday was 3,413 million cubic feet. The water released through the left canal will provide water for 40 lakes (30 lakes in Tiruvannamalai and 10 lakes in Villupuram district) to help irrigate 2,899 acres.
Likewise, water released through the right canal will provide water for 48 lakes (4 lakes in Tiruvannamalai and 44 lakes in Villupuram district) to help irrigate 4,644 acres. Apart from canal irrigation, old riparian farmers in Tirukkoilur will get 1,200 million cubic feet of water in two phases between February and April. The water will help irrigate 5,000 acres. The release will fill 17 lakes in Villupuram district.
Central Pennaiyar Basin Circle Executive Engineer, A. Mahendran, Sathanur dam water distribution circle, assistant executive engineer E. Arivazhagan, assistant engineers, K. Selavaraju, K. Madhusudhanan, B. Rajesh and several farmers from Thandarampattu region participated.