Report on new barrage being readied, says CM

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Monday said that the process of construction of a new barrage across the Kollidam river at Upper Anicut (Mukkombu) would begin soon after the preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR).

He told reporters here that the Public Works Department had initiated the task of preparing a DPR for the project. Once it was approved, tender would be floated and subsequently construction would begin.

Mr. Palaniswami, who also holds the portfolio of PWD, held a discussion with senior PWD officials at the Circuit House on the status of temporary restoration work at Upper Anicut, where a portion of the regulator across the Kollidam was collapsed on August 22. He checked with the officials on strength of the temporary structure and storage and carrying capacity of it.

The Chief Minister also enquired about the progress of DPR preparation. He instructed the officials to expedite it so as to start the construction work as early as possible.

Meanwhile, another team of experts from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M), inspected the damaged regulators across the Kollidam river and the temporary restoration carried out by the Public Works Department here on Monday.

The team comprising B.S. Murty and Balaji Narasimhan held discussion with senior PWD officials and collected details on the old structure and the circumstances that led to the collapse of it.

The team was said to have been asked by the State government to study the causes of the collapse of the regulator. They collected details on the strength of the old regulator, the quantum of water flowing in the Kollidam river when the collapse occurred and the maintenance works.

It is expected that the team will send its report to the Government shortly. The team is also said to have collected inputs on the proposed new barrage across the Kollidam river.

A few days ago, a team comprising Major General (retd) L. Padmanaban, CEO, Centre for Urbanisation, Buildings and Environment, IIT-M, and A. Boominathan, Professor, Civil Engineering, IIT-M, had visited the damaged regulator.

The PWD has built a ring bund using sand bags and a groyne made up of stone boulders to block the flow of water through the damaged shutters and regulate release of water for irrigation in the delta districts.
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