CM Stalin inaugurates Rs 1916 crore Athikadavu-Avinashi scheme

CHENNAI: Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday inaugurated the Rs 1,916.41 crore Athikadavu - Avinashi project which would irrigate 24,468 acres of cultivable land spread across Coimbatore, Erode and Tiruppur districts in western Tamil Nadu.

Chief Minister Stalin virtually inaugurated the project from the state secretariat in the company of his cabinet colleagues and officials.

The Athikadavu - Avinashi project would help pump 1.50tmcft of surplus water annually from the downstream of Kalingarayan Dam constructed across Bhavani river at the rate of 250 cusecs for 70 days using underground pipelines laid for 1,065 kilometres.

The project would irrigate 24,468 acres of cultivable land spread across the three districts by filling 1,045 water bodies, including 32 lakes of the state water resources department, 42 lakes managed by panchayat unions and 971 ponds.

Originally Conceived in 1972 by the then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi who acquiesced to the demand of the people of Coimbatore, the project suffered a setback after regime change in 1976, said a release issued in this regard by the state government.

The project was revived again by Karunanidhi in 1996 before it suffered another setback due to another regime change, the government said, and added that though the project execution was started in 2019, it was fast tracked following regime change in 2021 and after Chief Minister Stalin accorded administrative sanction for a revised estimate of Rs 1,916.41 crore.

The project was inaugurated on Saturday following a successful trial run. State water resources minister Durai Murugan, Adi Dravida welfare minister Kayalvizhi Selvaraj and state chief secretary Shiv Das Meena were also present during the virtual inauguration.

The project has been a talking point of Tamil Nadu politics for long as both the ruling DMK & opposition AIADMK have been vying with each other to claim credit for the long-delayed irrigation project in the western region.