A Public Works Department project to restore a water channel in Tirumangalam against many odds has come in for praise from residents.
Tirumangalam is about 20 km away from Madurai. But, because of better road and rail connectivity, and urban spillovers, it has become more of a suburb of Madurai than a self-sufficient municipality. The proximity to Madurai, however, has turned out to be Tirumanglam’s nemesis, thanks to haphazard development. Tanks that once irrigated farmlands and charged groundwater table to meet drinking water needs of people have either shrunk or disappeared, as in the case of Anaipappankulam, owing to ‘development’ in the form of houses and more houses, and even the Government Homoeopathy Medical College and Hospital to boot.
During monsoon, when Anaipappankulam fills up, the surplus gets discharged into a channel that courses through the town and drains into Therkaar river. But large-scale encroachments on either side of the watercourse has devoured it, resulting in water inundating homoeopathy college premises, Anna Nagar, Kakkan Colony, NGO Colony and parts of Mohammedshawpuram (Mamsapuram) after heavy spells of rain. What used to be a surplus water carrier has become a sliver of sewage channel.
N. Devodass, a long-time resident of Mamsapuram First Street, says, “I’ve witnessed floods in our area at least 10 times since 1972, the year when I set up my shop here. There was a mandapam along the channel and the Government Boys’ Higher Secondary School stood on a ‘thadagam’ (pond).”
“Tirumangalam is endowed with so many tanks such as Urappanur tank, Sengulam, Maravankulam and Kuthiraichanikulam where the royalty used to tie their horses before entering the forest for hunting while their womenfolk took rest at the mandapam along the watercourse in the olden days.”
“Water was at ground level in our well. We used to lift water from it as if from a bucket. Now, bore wells are sunk for more than 300 feet in our area,” he says.
When heavy rain led to inundation of many places in Madurai city and rural areas of the district in 2010, Tirumangalam was one of the worst-hit.
The surplus from Maravankulam and Udaikulam reaches Anaipappankulam. The surplus from Anaipappankulam is discharged into the Therkaaru through the watercourse. But owing to encroachments, the water course almost vanished. With the discharge route having been blocked, the surplus water from the tanks entered residential areas.
When it was feared that long-term inundation will lead to outbreak of diseases, the then Collector C. Kamaraj and officials swung into action and demolished 64 houses that encroached on the surplus carrier of Anaipappankulam. Since the municipality preferred to remain a spectator, the water resources department of the PWD picked up the gauntlet to provide a permanent solution to the recurrent flood problem by restoring the watercourse to protect residential areas from floods.
According to M. Muthupandian, Executive Engineer, PWD (Periyar-Vaigai Basin Division), once the project is completed, the restored channel can take the total discharge of 1,500 cusecs into the Therkaar so that flooding will be a thing of the past.
The PWD is converting the earthen watercourse, filled with sullage, into a concrete structure with bed lining and retaining walls so that it would carry the maximum discharge from Anaipappankulam.
M. Muthuramalingam, MLA, took efforts to get the administrative sanction for the Rs.11-crore project. The PWD started the work on February 7 this year with fund assistance from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard). As per the agreement, the contractor is expected to complete the 1.4-km channel work by February 2016. But the PWD says the project is likely to be over ahead of schedule.
Assistant Engineer A.H. Radhakrishnan says draining sewage water stagnating when the work is taken up in phases proves to be one of the many challenges they face.
Cut-and-cover method
Over a period of time, a part of the watercourse had become a busy and indispensable lane in the town. So the PWD has adopted a novel method to bypass this problem – it went for ‘cut-and cover’ method so that the road will go over the channel for 260 metres along the government school.
Mr. Muthuramalingam says that this project was announced by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa at a meeting of Collectors. This big project was a bonanza for Tirumangalam. Besides, as a bonus, the Therkaar will be desilted under a separate project by the PWD’s Gundar Division. When the surplus water flows unhindered into the river, it will help in irrigating the fields of Sathangudi and Vadakarai areas, he adds.
Now the onus is on the municipality. It must ensure that the watercourse does not deteriorate into a sewage channel over a period of time.
