TN announces of linking rivers

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government announced plans to link rivers within the state during 2008-09 to take floodwaters to drought prone districts.

Making the announcement in the Assembly today during presentation of the budget, Finance Minister K Anbazhagan said the state government proposed to interlink rivers in the state from its own funds, with the National Development Council resolving to provide assistance under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme for such projects.

“As the first phase of the Cauvery-Agniar-Koraiyar- Pambar-Vaigai-Gundar interlinking scheme for taking surplus flood water in Cauvery to water-deficient districts, the construction of Kattalai barrage across Cauvery will be taken up at a cost of Rs 165 crore. In the next phase, work to excavate a 255 km long canal linking these rivers will be taken up, based on the detailed project report under preparation,” he said.

Also, the Tamirabarani-Karumeniyar-Nambiar linking project for taking surplus water from Tamirabarani river to water-deficient areas of Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts would be executed at a cost of Rs 369 crore.

The finance minister also said the government was taking necessary steps to improve important canals in the main agricultural regions of the state. As part of it, the Grand Anaicut canal and the Kalingarayan Canal will be “rehabilitated” at a cost of Rs 150 crore and Rs 12 crore, respectively.