THRISSUR: Minister for Water Resources N K Premachandran said that the Government proposes to remove the sediments accumulated in the Poomala dam in the district.
Talking to newsmen after visiting the dam here on Monday, he said that Kerala Engineering Research Institute, which had conducted sedimentation studies of Malampuzha, Peechi and some other reservoirs in the state, was asked to carry out a sedimentation study of Poomala dam also.
He said that the KERI was expected to complete the study and submit the report by the middle of next month.
The minister said that the proposals for the desilting of Malampuzha, Peechi and some other dams were under Government consideration in order to increase the water holding capacity of these dams, make sand available for the construction sector and protect the rivers from excessive mining of sand. He said that for desilting, mechanical and manual methods were being considered.
The Government is examining the possibility of manually desilting the dams under the NREGP Scheme. The desilting of the dams will be carried out only after imparting environmental studies to ensure that it will not cause any serious environmental problems, he said. As per the preliminary estimate, the desilting of dams will provide sand required for the construction sector in the state for the next 10 years. If the desilting of the dams is carried out, it will automatically protect our rivers from excess mining of sand leading to drying up of the rivers, he said.