The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Kavinadu tank almost full

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 17, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Others

Kavinadu tank almost full

By Our Staff Reporter

PUDUKOTTAI, NOV. 16 . The Kavinadu tank on the outskirts of Pudukottai, the biggest irrigation tank in the district, is nearing its full capacity, after a gap of 27 years, thanks to the heavy rain that lashed the district recently.

Situated at Kavinadu West, the tank, which was till recently bone-dry, almost reached the brim today, bringing cheers to the villagers.

Officials of the Public Works Department told The Hindu that the tank's capacity was 147 million cubic feet, with an ayacut of 715.88 hectares. Residents of 18 villages would benefit from the storage in the tank that spread over 4.23 square km. The storage in the tank would significantly improve the groundwater table in the region and would push up the level in nine other tanks in the region.

Besides the heavy rain, the desilting of the inflow channels helped in the tank getting a huge quantum of water.

Pudukottai, known as the land of tanks, received 296.6 mm rain as against the normal 157.6 mm during October alone.

The Kavinadu tank had not reached its full capacity in the recent past, as the inlet channels had either been chocked or encroached upon. Thanks to the desilting works carried out by the Forest Development Agency (FDA) and the PWD, the flow this year was good.

According to the District Forest Officer, A.V. Venkatachalam, desilting and improvement of the inlet channel from the Keelapaluvanchi Road culvert to the tank was taken up as part of soil and moisture conservation works under the FDA programme last year, at a cost of Rs.1.2 lakhs. The objective was to enhance the storage in the tank, to meet the irrigation needs of the nearby villages.

Before the desilting works, the area was surveyed, and with the help of the locals, the encroachments removed. The desilting works, monitored by the Joint Forest Management Committee, were carried out with the participation of Keelapaluvanchi.

Mr. Venkatachalam said that under the FDA programme, ipomia weed, spread out on 10 hectares in the tank, were removed. This apart, babul tree saplings were raised on 60 hectares in the foreshore area during 2003-04. The aim of raising babul trees was to reduce evaporation of water and provide fuel and fodder to the locals, he said.

The PWD officials said the inlet channel improvements were carried out through the food-for- work programme. Around 2,000 metres of channel from the Senthamangalam anaicut leading to the tank was desilted a couple of months ago.

The current storage is sufficient for two crops.

The officials said the four shutters of the tank would be opened, depending on the inflow. The groundwater table in and around Pudukottai would also improve sharply with the improved storage in the tank, they added.

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