The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Two check dams to be built across Adyar

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 18, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Two check dams to be built across Adyar

By K. Lakshmi

CHENNAI, FEB. 17. Two check dams will be constructed across the Adyar River at Nandambakkam and Manapakkam, southwest of Chennai, to facilitate groundwater recharge in the surrounding areas.

Tenders are to be floated by February-end for the one-year project, PWD officials say.

The check dams will be constructed downstream of Tiruneermalai to arrest floodwater from local catchment areas flowing into the river during monsoons. The work will begin in April.

The Adyar River originates at Adhanur in Kancheepuram district and gets its flow during the monsoons, especially the northeast monsoon. The surplus water from Guduvancheri, Padappai, Nandivaram and Manimangalam join upstream of Tiruneermalai; so do the flood flows from sprawling Chembarambakkam tank west of Poonamallee.

As the check dams are to be constructed in freshwater zones, areas including Nandambakkam, Manapakkam and St. Thomas Mount, that lie on either side of the river would reap the benefits in the form of groundwater recharge. The residents here need not depend on other sources for water, says a Public Works Department official.

The PWD has proposed four check dams across the river at Manapakkam, Nandambakkam, Anakaputhur and Cowl Bazaar at an estimated cost of Rs.12.37 crores. In the first phase, two check dams will be built to tap floodwater during monsoon. The other check dams are awaiting approval from the Chennai Metrowater. Tenders will also be invited by the month-end to rehabilitate the two check-dams across the Cooum River at Kannapalaiyam and Paruthipattu near Avadi for groundwater recharge.

The Cooum, which originates at Kesavaram Anicut in Tiruvallur district, also depends largely on floodwater collected during the northeast monsoon.

The project aims at tapping floodwater during the coming monsoon for the benefit of surrounding areas, including Mevur, Thozhuvur, parts of Poonamallee, Tirumullaivoyal, Karaiyanchavadi and parts of Avadi.

Officials say work on the Rs.1.33-crore project will begin in April and completed in about nine months. A causeway will be constructed across the Cooum River to connect villages near Paruthipattu in the same period.

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