Tamil Nadu finds a sea of opportunities in Kudimaramath water scheme

CHENNAI:The Tamil Nadu government is set to sustain the ‘kudimaramath’ scheme, an ancient method of constructing and maintaining waterbodies by the local community, as it has been considered as a long-term drought-proof scheme in the State which has been hit by floods as well as drought over the past few years.

The scheme allowing quarrying clay, silt, savudu and gravel from beds of tanks, channels and reservoirs was revived last year, contributing much to mitigation of  the flood woes in several places in the State.
Officials said that a total of 5.82 crore cubic metres of tank silt was removed last year in the State except Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur.

This has resulted in increasing the water-holding capacity of the bodies by 2 tmc, which is considered to be a huge achievement going by the prevailing situation in the State.The figure for the current year is 50 lakh cubic metres so far, according to the data.

“Thanks to deepening of waterbodies, the storage capacity went up in the state by many fold. This resulted in saving many places in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts from flooding as the rainwater could flow down to the tanks,” said K Satyagopal, Commissioner for Revenue Administration (CRA) and Relief Commission.

Talking to Express, he said Tirunelveli, Karur, Krishnagiri, Villupuram, Dindigul, Ariyalur, Thanjavur, Perambalur and Vellore districts in the State had performed well in implementing the kudimaramath scheme and have become a role model for other districts in the State.Collectors of these districts, which have done well on water conservation compared with other districts, he noted.

With the advantages of enhancing water-holding capacity of the waterbodies, making the percolation better, increasing the storage and improving soil health in agricultural land where silt is used bring more cheers, the government will continue to sustain the scheme.“The scheme will continue to get thrust from the government as it brings more advantages,” according to Satyagopal.

Moreover, removal of tank silt is considered as a long-term drought-proof scheme, apart from flood mitigation.Since the local farmers, potters and others remove the silt on their own, the scheme does not incur heavy expenditure for the exchequer.

Highlights of kudimaramath

• 5.82 crore cubic metre silt removed in 2017

• Enhanced water holding capacity by 2 tmc 50 lakh cubic metres silt removed in 2018 so far

• Clay, silt, savudu and gravel allowed to be removed from beds of water bodies

• Helps flood and drought mitigation

• Considered a long-term drought-proofing scheme

Dry facts
The scheme allowing quarrying clay, silt, savudu and gravel from beds of tanks, channels and reservoirs was revived last year, contributing much to mitigation of  the flood woes in several places in the State