The inordinate and excruciating delay in executing the ambitious Tamirabharani – Karumeniyar and Nambiyar river linking project, which was designed to divert the perennial river’s surplus floodwater to the dry areas of Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts, has escalated the project cost from the originally estimated Rs. 369 crore to Rs. 872.45 crore.
This reply has been provided by the Superintending Engineer of Public Works Department A. Malaisamy to a petition submitted by P. Perumbadaiyar, State vice-president of Tamil Nadu Vivasaayigal Sangam to the Collector during the farmers’ grievance day meeting held on July 17 last.
The much-awaited project on interlinking of rivers was designed to utilise about 20 per cent of the surplus quantum of 13.76 thousand million cubic feet of water, available on an average annually, in the Tamirabharani.
Under the project, 2.765 tmcft of surplus water would be diverted through the existing Kannadian channel and the formation of a 73 km-long new flood carrier channel.
After the 6.5-km-long Kannadian channel’s carrying capacity was increased from 450 cubic feet per second (cusecs) to 3,680 cusecs, work on the formation of the new channel to be dug up to M.L. Theri, a sand dune, near Sattankulam in Tuticorin district from Kannadian Channel at Vellankuzhi was started. The proposed flood carrier canal can carry 3,200 cusecs of water.
Link canals
There are a number of link canals that will connect the 73-km-long canal with a host of tanks in the basins of Karumeniyar and Nambiyar and the Manimuthar river’s tributaries. The main canal would link with the river Pachayar.
When the project is completed, it will benefit 50 villages in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts, of which five villages are in Palyamkottai taluk; 17 in Nanguneri taluk; 10 in Radhapuram taluk; 16 in Sattankulam taluk and two in Tiruchendur taluk.
With this surplus water, irrigation facilities can be provided to about 23,040 hectares in the two districts.
Of about 1,076 hectares of land required for this project, 994 hectares fell under the category of dry land and 14.5 hectares under wet land. About 68 hectares were poromboke lands.
Since the State Government released funds for this project after then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi laid foundation stone for this project in February 2009, the first two phases of the project could be completed without much difficulty.
When availability of adequate funds for this project became difficult following the change of guard at Fort St. George, the dream project hangs in balance.
“The project, originally to be executed in four phases within three years after the foundation stone laying ceremony, has so far crossed the first two phases with 99 per cent of works completed while work on the last two phases is yet to be started. Ultimately, the tax payers’ money of Rs. 503 crore has to be pumped in to complete this project over and above the original estimate of Rs. 369 crore,” said Mr. Perumbadaiyar, hoping that the legal intervention initiated by then Radhapuram MLA M. Appavu through Madras High Court would at least ensure the early completion of the project.
