As part of a mission to improve the irrigation tanks across the state, chief minister J. Jayalalithaa has ordered the modernisation and revival of about 54 system and non-system tanks in Vellore, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts and along the Cooum.
These works would be taken up at a cost of Rs 22.4 crore under the Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernisation and Water Bodies Restoration and Management project (TN – IAMWARM). The project would help to enhance the quality of the water bodies in the selected districts apart from enabling the irrigation of about 6624.2 hectares of land totally.
Though there are 80 system and non-system tanks along the Cooum river, about 54 tanks would be taken up for revival and modernisation. The project would benefit Arakonam, Kancheepuram and Sriperambadur taluks besides the tail end areas of Tiruvallur and Poonnamallee, an official release here said on Sunday.
The project is aimed at improving the irrigation service delivery and productivity of irrigated agriculture with effective integrated water resources management in river basin and sub basin framework in the state. During her previous tenure, Ms. Jayalalithaa had announced the World Bank assisted project in Tamil Nadu. The IAMWARM project is being implemented at an outlay of Rs 2,547 crore in the state.
Though the erstwhile DMK government had announced the cleaning-up of the Cooum and Adyar River, nothing much had progressed.
The present move by the AIADMK government according to sources would help the agriculturalists in the initial phase and gradually lead to the restoration of Cooum river.
The government had already allocated Rs 31.66 crore to rehabilitate and modernise the tanks and canals in Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga districts.