Ryots seek permanent shutter in Krishnagiri Reservoir Project dam

One of the shutters of the dam broke away last November, resulting in an outflow of stored water. The damaged shutter was replaced with a temporary one at a height of 42 feet against other shutters placed at a height of 52 feet, the full storage capacity of the dam.

“Heavy rains have brought copious inflow into the dam. It is impossible to store water to the dam’s full capacity unless the shutter height is increased to the actual 52 feet,” said K M Rama Gounder, president for the Tamilaga Vivasayikal Sangam.

Farmers have raised fears that they will be left without water for paddy cultivation in June. “About 600 cusecs of water per second is let into the river. In the last seven months alone, about 23 TMC of water has gone waste. Water can be released for farming only if the storage level rises above 46 feet,” he added.

Over one lakh farmers are dependent on the water from the KRP dam for cultivating paddy, plantains and rose crops in Krishnagiri district alone. Farmers in other districts like Dharmapuri, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram and Cuddalore also make use of the dam’s water.

Krishnagiri Collector C Kathiravan said the new shutter will be fixed in another 25 days.

“As the dam has reached its brim, water needs to be released before works cane begin. Efforts have been taken to let the water into canals to benefit farmers. The state government has also given its nod to replace all other shutters and work will be taken up after rains get over,” said the Collector to media reporters.