Rs 31-cr check dam to be built across Palar basin

A senior official attached to the Water Resources Department said, “A tender has been floated to construct a check dam at Easwaran Vallipuram village in Chengalpattu. It is expected that the works will commence in a couple of months from now.”

This has been a long pending demand by the farmers in Vellore to construct check dams across the Palar river basin to store water and save agriculture in the region.

The check dam across Palar river will be constructed nearly 500 metres upstream of the causeway between Esoor and Vallipuram. It would be 750-metre long and 1.5 metres high, with foundation for a depth of three metre.

The PWD had sent proposals to construct three check dams and three sub-surface dykes across the Palar river, and nearly five check dams across Palar’s tributaries. According to official sources, the Chief Minister made an announcement that Rs 1,000 crore was allocated for three years to construct dams and check dams last year. Of which, Rs 350 crore was allotted in 2017 after which the proposals were made.