CHENNAI: A three-decade old proposal to tackle sea water intrusion and augment supply of water for various drinking water schemes, was revived when the ‘bhoomi puja’ of the `32.50 crore project to construct a check dam at the tail-end of the Palar river at Vayalur Village in Thurukalukundram in Kancheepuram district, was conducted.
Funded by the Department of Atomic Energy and executed through General Services Organisation in Kalpakkam, the 1.190km-long dam will help retain floodwater which would otherwise flow into the sea, an Atomic Energy department spokeswoman said.
A long-pending requirement of people of Kancheepuram district, the dam will give an additional storage capacity of up to 1,500 million cubic metres with two fillings and nearly 330 hectares of agricultural land will benefit from the scheme.
It is learnt that the Water Resources department of Tamil Nadu planned to build the check dam with a subsurface dyke based on the observed maximum water level in 2015.
While the above-surface structure of 1.5 metre height would help store more floodwater in the river, the sub-surface dyke to be built to a depth of eight metres would prevent seawater intrusion and enhance the groundwater recharge in the aquifer.
“This innovative design was necessary as the conventional check dam design would not serve the purpose due to its proximity to the sea and backwaters. On completion of this check dam by March 2020, the water stored and recharged would be used for domestic and agricultural purposes in the surrounding areas,” the spokeswoman said.