Thiruchirapalli
Officials decided to provide a facelift for the dam which was a famous locale for Tamil films shooting in the second half of the last century. The 61-year-old dam has been attracting the young and old alike all these years.
In order to make the visit more interesting to the public, the officials are proposing to include a provision for a musical fountain, a theme park for children, in addition to increased water and toilet facilities. However, there would be no move to revive the toy train, which went out of use for more than a decade ago.
Constructed in 1958 at a cost of slightly more than Rs 3 crore during the second plan period during the then chief minister K Kamaraj’s rule, Sathanur Dam was meant for irrigation in Tiruvannamalai and Villupuram districts, where a total of 45,000 acres of ayacut is covered through the left and right bank canals.
Located near Thandarampattu, 30 kilometres from Tiruvannamalai town, the facility still attracts local visitors as evinced by Rs 1.67 lakh collected as entrance fee for the January – October period at Rs 5 per head, Rs 44,810 collected from two wheelers parking at Rs 10 per vehicle, Rs 47,040 collected from mini buses at Rs 20 vehicle and Rs 2,550 collected from regular buses at Rs 50 a vehicle.
The highest increase of revenue in the dam vicinity came from the fee hike in entrance to the forest department maintained crocodile park. The park was charging only 50 paise per head, till four months ago.
Dam officials, as forest department officials did not evince any interest, ensured that the charges were hiked to Rs 5 per head for children and Rs 10 for adults. “This became possible following the visit of some senior bureaucrats, who were surprised at the low rates and helped to increase them,” said an official.
Officials said visitors would increase once the dam reached its full reservoir level of 119 feet as the present water level is only around 90 feet. “This constitutes only 33 per cent when the dead storage (water needed for regular maintenance and to ensure fish life) is taken into account,” the officials added.
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