Fifth reservoir to be ready before NE monsoon

A top Public Work Department official involved in the project said a bund with a height of 14 meters is being constructed at present, and added that it would take considerable time to finish, as the workers are rolling the soil each 30 cm before building upon it further. “The reservoir will be ready before the northeast monsoon to save water,” added the official.

Even as this work is going on, the official said, 12 other works are also being carried out simultaneously, including construction of surplus weir, diversion canal, surplus flow and approach road among others.

“These are preliminary works which will be completed by this September,” he said. The rest of the work that are not directly related to the storage of water, like laying of grass and track, will be undertaken by the end of the year.

The official said the delay in completing the project was on account of transporting granite blocks from Andhra Pradesh. “One set of the load has reached the site. The next load is expected to come soon. We will build a six-metre high wall, while the rest will be built with stones,” the official added.

As part of the project, a 7.15 km canal will be built to bring water from the Kandaleru-Poondi canal.

The project was mired in land acquisition problem, after local farmers demanded better compensation for their land that was taken over. “We have crossed several hurdles to reach here. Every drop of the rainwater has to be saved for the better future,” the official added.

The new reservoir will add 1,000 million cubic feet (1 TMC ft) to the existing storage.