TIRUCHY: The long-pending demand to divert surplus Cauvery water from Mayanur Barrage into Ponnaniyar Dam and Kannuthu Dam in Manapparai taluk during the rains is now moving closer to reality.
The state government has directed the Water Resources Department to redesign the initiative as a solar-powered water-lifting irrigation project instead of using electricity, prompting renewable energy, reducing electricity costs, improving irrigation reliability and supporting sustainable water management.
The Ponnaniyar Dam, located near Pooncholai village in Kadavur hill region, has very little storage due to the absence of inflow from its source channels. The dam was last opened for irrigation in January 2012. With poor monsoon and little inflow, the reservoir remained unused for irrigation for several years.
After a gap of 13 years, water was released from the dam for a few days for irrigation in April 2025 following rains. Farmers have been urging the government to divert surplus water during floods to the Ponnaniyar Dam from Mayanur Barrage to irrigate thousands of acres of rainfed lands in and around Manapparai taluk.
A few years ago, the Water Resources Department submitted a proposal to the government, seeking Rs 83 lakh to conduct a feasibility study and prepare a detailed project report to lay a pipeline for more than 54 km to divert surplus water from Mayanur Barrage to Ponnaniyar and Kannuthu dams. However, the initiative failed to materialise.
Recently, the WRD once again entrusted officials from its Planning and Design Division with preparing a new report to assess the feasibility of the project. Initially, it was proposed to pump water from the Cauvery using electricity.
However, as power requirement would involve a high recurring cost, the government modified the proposal to use solar power, said CJ Sivakumar, Executive Engineer, Ariyaru Basin, Water Resources Department, Tiruchy.
“Projects such as Athikadavu-Avinashi and Sarabanga involve high power costs. Therefore, officials have proposed using solar power to reduce recurring expenditure,” he said.
K R Suja, Executive Engineer, Planning and Design Division, Water Resources Department, told TNIE that following instructions from the Special Secretary to the Government, the department decided to modify the proposal as a solar-powered water-lifting irrigation project. “We have been instructed to revise the plan and re-submit the estimate for the survey and investigation work.
Accordingly, a revised estimate of Rs 94 lakh to prepare a DPR, based on 2025-26 rates, has been submitted to the government,” she said. K Mohammed Hussain, Manapparai town secretary of the CPI and director of the Manapparai Town Cooperative Society, who has been demanding the implementation of the water-lifting project, stressed the need to complete the preliminary works and implement the project soon so as to help thousands of farmers from Manapparai.
