The water level in the Veeranam tank, located at Kattumannarkovil block, has been steadily increasing over the past few days, rekindling hopes of farmers in the district’s tail-end delta regions with regard to irrigation.
The Veeranam tank is one of the main drinking water sources for Chennai and irrigates about 45,000 acres of agricultural land in Bhuvanagiri, Kumaratchi, Parangipettai, Keerapalayam and Kattumannarkovil blocks in the Cuddalore district.
It gets water from the Coleroon River and the Vadavar channel.
A senior PWD official said that the tank had been receiving a steady inflow of 1,700 cubic feet per second (cusecs) of Cauvery water from the Upper Anicut.
Water is being discharged into the Vadavar canal from the Lower Anicut to raise the tank’s water level and stands at 42.45 feet, against a maximum of 47.50 feet. The storage is expected to reach the full capacity in a week’s time, he said.
After it reaches full capacity, officials from the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) will decide on pumping the water to the city at the rate of 19 million litres a day through a 230-km pipeline.
K.V. Elangeeran, president of the Cauvery Delta Farmers Federation said that the water level in Veeranam was steadily increasing after nearly two years.
Preventing run-off
“Poor water management has resulted in nearly 2 tmc feet of water wasted as run-off annually. The PWD should evolve a strategy and release the surplus water into the irrigation channels and canals. This would also recharge the ground water level in these areas,” he said.
Though the government had sanctioned a sum of ₹44 crore for desilting the tank in 2014, the PWD had dredged only a portion of it. The administration should come clean on the dredging work and the funds spent so far, he said. Mr. Elangeeran demanded the CMWSSB to provide royalty or suitable compensation for water tapped from the tank.
The royalty could be fixed at the rate of one paise a litre, he added.