Rain throws spanner in desilting work

Officials from the Public Works Department said that desilting work, which was kicked off by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on May 28, was being carried out in a site, which is around 20-30 km away from the dam. “We have removed 2,09,386 cubic metres of silt so far,” said an official.

Since earthmovers, trucks and tractors are being used for the process, officials said there were chances of the vehicles getting stuck in the slush. So, the work has been halted for now. “Rain will make the site and the stretch leading to it slippery. Vehicles may get stuck and it will not be easy to recover them. So, we have suspended desilting works for now and will resume it as soon as the level drops,” said the official. The storage at present is close to 50 feet, he added.

Removal of more than two lakh cubic metres of silt has opened up space to store 20.94 crore litres of water, but, officials said that as the dam’s full capacity is 93.47 thousand million cubic feet (tmc), desilting the entire dam, which is spread across 153.45 sq km, would be a highly time-consuming process and can even take several years, say officials. 

Officials also said that the desilting would gain momentum after Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS) Limited of the Ministry of Water Resources finishes the survey regarding the capacity of the dam. The result of the survey would be submitted to the state. According to sources, the government would make efforts to desilt the dam in a full-fledged manner after receiving the survey report.