Repair works on to plug breach in LBP, says Minister Muthusamy

COIMBATORE: Minister for Housing and Urban Development S Muthusamy said repair works to plug a breach in Lower Bhavani Project (LBP) canal is being carried out on a war footing for water to be released into the canal again within 10 days.

A breach in the LBP canal at Vaikalmedu in Perundurai on Saturday, around 4.30 pm led to water entering large tracts of farmlands and inundation of houses. The breach also led to damage of the barrel and therefore water release from Bhavani Sagar dam has been stopped. However, due to Mandous cyclone, the water discharge through the canal has already been reduced from 2,000 cusecs to 1,000 cusecs since Friday.

After inspecting the breach on Sunday, Muthusamy told reporters that water was released for 120 days from August 12 to December 9 to irrigate 1.03 lakh acres of farmlands. Following a request from farmers, the water discharge was extended for another 20 days from December 9 to 29

However, following the breach, water discharge from all outlets through LBP has been stopped, he added.

Erode Collector H Krishnanunni and officials from various government departments and representatives of farmers associations, were present during the inspection.