Collector V.R. Subbulaxmi and Minister for Water Resources, Durai Murugan launching the restoration work of canal

Work to desilt the left canal of Mordhana Dam, which is maintained by Water Resources Department (WRD), in Gudiyatham town near Katpadi in Vellore has commenced.

A long-standing demand of farmers and residents in the region, the desilting work, which is being done for the first time since the dam was built in 2001, will help to prevent inundation of Gudiyatham and Katpadi taluks during monsoon. “Breach of canal bund that gets surplus water from the dam inundated standing crops and houses along Palar river during monsoon,” said S. Vetri, a farmer.

Accompanied by Collector V.R. Subbulaxmi, Minister for Water Resources, Durai Murugan, laid the foundation stone for restoration of the tank at a cost of Rs 2.50 crore. At present, total storage capacity of the reservoir, which is built across the Koundinya river, a tributary of the Palar, is 261.3 mcft.

WRD officials said that initially, desilting work has been taken up on the left canal, which runs 31.84 kms distance, covering at least 19 villages with around 1,710.92 hectares of farmland. This is mainly due to the large tract of land under cultivation along the left canal, which is three metres wide.
 
While water from the Koundinya river directly irrigates around 140 acres, another 220 acres in the region are irrigated through water from the canal. “Thick vegetation on the canal bed has prevented steady flow of water. It resulted in breach of the bund, resulting in inundation. The entire desilt and other works will be completed before northeast monsoon,” R. Ramkumar, Assistant Engineer (AE), PWD (Katpadi), told The Hindu.
 
As part of work, WRD officials said that desilting of canal bed will be done under the Rehabilitation and Restoration of Lakes scheme 2024-25. Deposited silt on canal bed will be removed to a depth of three metres to ensure steady water flow on it. Growth of thick vegetation especially on bund and slope of the bund will be removed.
 
During field study, WRD officials said they found breach of the canal at least in 10 spots on the bund, which is 5 metres in height. Protection wall, which will be six feet in height, to a distance of 500 metres at these spots will be built to prevent any water seepage during monsoon.

WRD officials said that a proposal to re-lay jeep track on the bund of the canal has been planned at a cost of Rs seven crore. The existing mud track, which is maintained by DRDA, will be converted into bitumen stretch. It will help in regular surveillance by officials of the canal and dam area; to check breach on the bund and water flow in the canal.