A dam intended to block the course of a stream to create an artificial lake inside a private tea estate is to be demolished after the Revenue Department deemed the structure to be illegal.
The 30-foot dam was built on a private tea estate along the M. Kaikatty Road connecting Udhagamandalam to Manjoor, near Balocola. According to locals, the stream across which the dam was built carries water to irrigate agricultural field and tea estates downstream.
Illegal structure
“The stream wells up with water during rains, and is always a source of water during times of drought,” said R Rajamanickam, a resident of Deversholai, which lies along the course of the stream. Following a complaint, officials from the Revenue department, led by the Revenue Divisional Officer in Udhagamandalam, visited the estate on Wednesday.
Speaking to The Hindu, an official who conducted the site visit said persons owning the tea estate did not have the permission to build the structure.
Nilgiris Collector J. Innocent Divya said: “It seems that they had wanted to construct a check dam of some sort, but I have ordered that it should be demolished.”