Anbumani calls for rejuvenating 'Chola' era water bodies in Ariyalur

CHENNAI: PMK President Anbumani Ramadoss on Sunday urged the state government to desilt and rejuvenate the water bodies constructed during the era of Cholas.

On his second day of "Padha Yatra", Anbumani started the campaign from Ariyalur town where he distributed the pamphlets to the public and spoke about the 'Ariyalur-Chola Irrigation Scheme'. Explaining the scheme, Anbumani said that Chola kings formed several water bodies before 1,000 years in Ariyalur district for irrigation and majority of them have either vanished or were restricted to not even one half of the original size.

"Sembianmahadevi lake was constructed before 1,000 years with an area of 1,578 acres but today it has shrunk to less than 500 acres. Similarly, Ponneri lake was formed 1,000 years back by Rajendra Cholan by taking water from Ganges but now there is no water. Rivers like Marudharu, Nandhiyaru and Kodhaiyaru are now dry and there is a need to rejuvenate them." said Anbumani.

He also said that at present the total capacity of the water bodies in Ariyalur district is 8 TMC and if desilted the capacity will be 18 TMC but this year 430 TMC of water in Cauvery-Kollidam drained into the sea.

"It would take hardly 8 TMC of water to make Ariyalur district greenish" said Anbumani, who also added that if the Ariyalur-Chola Irrigation project is completed the ground water level which is now at 500 feet due to the cement factories will rise back to 50 feet.