A new barrage will come up across the Kollidam, between Adhanur and Kumaramangalam villages in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts, to harness surplus flow in the river.

The foundation for the structure was laid by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, through video conference from Chennai, on Tuesday.

The barrage will have a capacity to store about 0.334 thousand million cubic (tmc) feet of water. The Public Works department hopes to harness about 1.072 tmc of water through four fillings of rain and surplus flows in a year.

The barrage was sanctioned by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in the wake of persistent demands from farmers for creating additional infrastructure in the State to harness excess flow in the Cauvery and Kollidam during monsoon surplus years. The Kollidam was essentially a flood carrier, and as there was no irrigation infrastructure downstream of the Lower Anicut, the surplus flow ran into the sea, it was pointed out. In August 2014, she announced in the Assembly that a barrage would be built across the Kollidam downstream of Lower Anicut.

Construction of the barrage will entail an investment of ₹428 crore, including ₹31.35 crore set aside for land acquisition. The barrage will also serve as a two-way bridge between Adhanur and Kumaramangalam villages. It will have sluices to control flow of water into the South and North Rajan canals and stabilise irrigation for about 12,640 hectares of land. Water stored at the barrage will help recharge over 300 deep bore wells in the vicinity. The banks of the Kollidam will be strengthened on both sides at the barrage site.

Construction will begin shortly and the structure is expected to be completed in about two years, PWD sources said.

S. Suresh Kumar and V.Anbuselvan, Collectors of Nagapattinam and Cuddalore districts, and V. Selvaraj, Chief Engineer, PWD, Water Resources Organisation, Tiruchi Region, were present at the ceremony.