The Water Resources Department (WRD) will construct waterbodies and channels to conserve floodwater.

This
was one of the key announcements made by Water Resources Minister
Duraimurugan in the Assembly on Monday. While waterbodies would be
created in Vellore, Theni and Dindigul districts, the WRD would build
channels in Thoothukudi, Tiruvannamalai, Tiruvallur, Tenkasi and
Villupuram to save rainwater that went waste.

The WRD would also
construct groynes and seawalls in Chennai, Tirunelveli, Kanniyakumari,
Ramanathapuram and Thoothukudi districts to check sea erosion and
minimise seawater incursion into fishing villages.

Sources in the
WRD noted that such structures in the Ennore Estuary and the mouth of
the Cooum in Chennai were part of the 16 projects to be implemented.
About 200 waterbodies in 23 districts, including Kancheepuram,
Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur, would be taken up for repair, renovation
and restoration with the Union government’s financial assistance. The
scheme is aimed at desilting the waterbodies and increasing their
storage to help improve agricultural productivity and drinking water
availability. Similar projects would be executed in the river basins,
including those of the Kosasthalaiyar and the Kovalam, with assistance
from NABARD, sources said.

Work
is in progress to desilt lakes at Cholavaram, Poondi and
Chembarambakkam at a cost of ₹20.44 crore and boost their storage to
meet the needs of Chennai. There are plans to take up desilting in the
Red Hills at an estimated cost of ₹9.90 crore. Clearing silt in these
four waterbodies would help to restore the capacity of 1,904 million
cubic feet.

Construction of buildings for various circles and
divisional offices and for the Institute of Hydrology and Hydraulics at
Poondi in Tiruvallur district was one of the announcements made in the
Assembly. These buildings would be completed in five years. Besides
upgrading the standards of the Irrigation Management Training Institute
in Tiruchi, new institutes would be built in Chennai, Coimbatore and
Madurai with funding from the Union government.