TIRUPPUR: The sluice gates of the Amaravathi Dam in Tiruppur district were opened on Saturday to irrigate the lands getting water from the old ayacut canals.
State Ministers MP Saminathan and N Kayalvizhi Selvaraj opened them to release the water. Water will continue to be released at specific intervals for 135 days.
Speaking to reporters, MP Saminathan, Minister of Tamil Development and Information and Publicity, said, "Water was released from the dam to eight old ayacut canals (Ramakulam, Kallapuram, Kumaralingam, Sarkar Kannadiputhur, Chozhamadevi, Kaniyur, Kadathur and Karathozhuvu) dependent on the Amaravathi River on Saturday. Water will be provided at certain intervals for 135 days. Through this, 7,520 acres of agricultural land will get water for irrigation. Farmers should use water sparingly and cooperate with the Water Resources Department."
S Murugesan, the Chief Engineer of WRD (Coimbatore Region); L Padmanaban, the President of the Fourth Zone of the Tiruppur City Municipal Corporation; Subramaniam, Executive Engineer of WRD; and others were present.
Around 54,637 acres of agricultural land in Tiruppur and Karur districts are dependent on the water from the Amaravathi Dam located in Udumalai. Out of this 29,000 acres are fed by water from the old ayacut canals.
Several joint drinking water schemes also use water from the Amaravathi River and its main canal.
The water inflow into the dam was 374 cusecs on Saturday and water level of the dam was 83.75 feet (3,407 mcft) against its full level of 90 (4,047 mcft) ft.