Tamil Nadu - Cuddalore   

Water released from Keelanai

— Photo: C.Venkatachalapathy

irrigation-friendly: Health Minister M.R.K.Panneerselvam opening the sluices of the Keelanai on Sunday.

CUDDALORE: Health Minister M.R.K. Pannerselvam opened the sluices of the Kollidam-Keelanai, about 95 km from here, releasing water for irrigation on Sunday.

He said that owing to the timely release of water from the Mettur dam on June 12, the level in the Keelani now stood at 8 feet (full level 9 ft). The water initially reached the Kallanai on June 16 and the Keelanai on June 18.

He noted that as of now, 1,000 cusecs of water would be released from the Keelanai through four irrigation canals such as Vadavar – 500 cusecs, North Rajan Canal – 200 cusecs, South Rajan Canal – 250 cusecs and Kumikki Manniar Canal – 50 cusecs.

The water would irrigate a total of 1,25,899 acres in three districts of Cuddalore (1,01,910 acres), Thanjavur (1,581 acres) and Nagapattinam (22,408 acres), Mr. Panneersvelam said.

As the sinking of a portion of the north bank of the Kollidam had become a perennial problem, an estimate had been prepared for strengthening that stretch at the cost of Rs. 26 crore.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development had expressed its consent to extend financial assistance for the project and the works would begin soon.

Public Works Department sources told The Hindu that since the Keelanai bridge was 172 years old, vehicles weighing less than 10 tonnes alone were allowed to ply over it. While the 40 sluices on the south side of the Keelanai were manually operated, 30 sluices on the northern side were electrically operated.

A Rs. 7.5-crore proposal had been sent to the government for implementing the flood management programme in the Keelanai, including electrification of the southern sluices and reinforcing the structure.

Another proposal for solving the flood problem in Chidambaram and for renovating the Khan Sahib canal, estimated to cost Rs. 7.5 crore, had been sent to the government for approval.

A Rs. 90-lakh-proposal had been submitted to the Tourism Department for providing a facelift to the park at the Keelanai , the sources said.

Those who were present on the occasion included District Revenue Officer S. Natarajan, PWD Chief Engineer (Chennai region) K. Madhusudhanan, Superintending Engineer (Cuddalore) K. Panchanathan, Executive Engineer (Chidambaram) K. Prakash and Assistant Executive Engineer (Anaikarai) S. Selvaraj.

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