PWD Minister K V Ramalingam on Friday said that the State government had sent a Rs 11,420-crore proposal to the Centre to augment the Cauvery irrigation system.
On the sidelines of a function organised to mark the release of water from the Kalingarayan check dam, near Bhavani, on Friday, he said, initially, the CM had announced that Mettur Dam would be opened on August 12 and later advanced it by 10 days to August 2 owing to good inflow into the reservoir. As there was no other way to store the inflow after the Stanley reservoir reached its full capacity, the surplus water was released.
In this situation as part of efforts to judiciously use the Cauvery water, the CM had asked the Centre to approve a 11,420-crore proposal to improve the irrigation system. But the Centre was yet to respond to the request, he rued.