Nandangarai check dam dedicated
Coimbatore Collector V. Palanikumar (third from left) inaugurating the Nandangarai check dam at Kalkothi tribal hamlet 33 km from Coimbatore on Friday. Chairman of Siruthuli S.V.Balasubramaniam (second left) and its Managing Trustee Vanitha Mohan (left) are in the picture. A check dam at Nandangarai across the wild stream from Kalkothi at Chadivayal near Siruvani hills was dedicated by the Collector, V. Palanikumar, on Friday. The check dam is constructed at an outlay of Rs. 1.28 lakh with 51 per cent contribution from Siruthuli (a public initiative to conserve water bodies and ecology) i.e., Rs. 65.38 lakh and 49 per cent by District Rural Development Agency i.e., Rs. 62.62 lakh under the Namakku Naame scheme.
The project commenced in March 2008. A number of office-bearers of Siruthuli including its chairman S.V. Balasubramaniam and Managing Trustee, Vanitha Mohan, took part. Siruthuli pointed out that though the earth has 3/4th water only 1.5 per cent of them was potable. Hence, there was an imperative need to conserve and harness every drop of water that the Mother Nature had given to humanity.
In order to recharge aquifers, running water should be made to walk, walking water should be made to stand and standing water would naturally move downwards and percolate. Nandangarai stream originates from a height of 1,687 meters above mean sea level and flows down to 490 meters onto the check dam area.
The stream belonged to the river Noyyal system and is located in block II of the Boluvampatti Reserve forest, there are 12 small tributaries and the length of the stream was 3.50 km. The technical details of the dam are length 30 metres, breadth 30 metres, height 4 metres providing a water holding capacity of 100 million litres and 500 families of farmers would be beneficiaries. The check dam would help irrigate agricultural land of 1,600 hectares, number of open wells and bore wells that would be recharged by the dam would be 600 numbers and number of farmers’ families.
Eco-san project was also dedicated on Friday. The project at Jageernaickenpalayam is the first one of its kind in Coimbatore wherein a concerted effort had been made to ensure 100 per cent sanitation and covert the waste into useable inputs for the farming community. Specially designed toilets with an inbuilt scheme to segregate wet as well as dry wastes have been constructed for the benefit of the community. Ideal sanitation would be achieved through segregation and once implemented on a large scale it would help us achieve better agrarian security to the country.
