TN seeks Central nod to desilt Vaigai dam

THENI: The Tamil Nadu government has sought necessary approval from the Centre to desilt the Vaigai dam, which serves the agriculture needs and also meets the drinking requirement in the region, state Energy Resources and Law Minister C T R Nirmal Kumar said on Saturday.

The accumulation of sediments and sand over the years has reduced the storage of water in the reservoir and as per official estimates nearly 18 - 20 per cent of water storage is lost due to these deposits, he said.

“The state government has submitted requests to the Centre seeking environmental clearance to take up desilting work. The administration aims to commence the desilting within the next two months once all the formal procedures were completed,” Kumar told reporters after inspecting the dam in the district.

Initial estimates suggest a multi-year project extending to nine years, but the state government hopes to expedite the process in order to ensure the storage capacity in the reservoir is enhanced at the earliest, he said.

The minister assured that farmers would be permitted to collect the alluvial soil for agriculture purposes free of charge. Strict monitoring would be in place to prevent exploitation by individuals for commercial gain.

The dam has never been desilted since its inauguration in 1959, though in the past the state government had sent a proposal to desilt it at an estimated cost of Rs 600 crore.

Owing to the weak monsoon, the reservoir’s water level had drastically declined to 20 feet against its full storage capacity of 71 feet.

The dam is vital for many southern districts, including Madurai, Dindigul and Ramanathauram. Farmers dependent on the dam water for agriculture activities have urged the government to release the dam water to facilitate agriculture activities.