14 Mukkombu dam shutters washed away

Around 8 pm on Wednesday, one of the shutters of the dam fell into the water, making a noisy splash. Soon, the adjacent shutters fell into the water one by one. Nearly 90 metre structure of the dam was washed away.

In 1836, the Upper Anicut was constructed for delta irrigation by British engineer Sir Arthur Cotton after observing the structural model of Kallanai (Grand Anaicut), which was constructed by King Karikala Cholan.

The dam, with a total of 45 shutters and 6.3-metre width, was used for irrigation purpose and also linked the Vathalai areas. 

“The major water distribution structure for the Delta region, which has a history over 180 years has been washed away due to sand mining activities”, said K Divakar Kannan, a resident of Mukkombu.

Since Mettur was full owing to the heavy rain in Karnataka, 2.50 lakh cusecs of water reached Mukkombu and 1.75 lakh cusecs of water was released into Kollidam and 65,000 cusecs of water released into the Cauvery.

“There were three sand quarries near Kollidam - one near Kollidam dam, one at Gunaseelam and one at Ayyampalayam. They had dredged heavy loads of sand and therefore, the dam must have lost its strength,” said Veerasekaran, spokesperson of Bharathiya Kisan Sangam. He added that the then Chief Minister J Jayalaithaa had allotted a fund of Rs 10 crore to renovate the dam. But, the fund was not properly utilised, he said.

Meanwhile, the PWD officials, posted at various locations due to floods, were asked to reach the Tiruchy headquarters soon and discussions are on to prevent the water flow. Meanwhile, the traffic from Vaithalai has been stopped and flood alert sounded to the villages along the Kollidam banks.