15-km stretch of Uyyakondan canal in Tiruchi to be renovated

In an effort to prevent discharge of untreated sewage into the Uyyakondan canal, the Water Resources Department has planned to renovate the city stretch of the water course.

In an effort to prevent discharge of untreated sewage into the Uyyakondan canal, the Water Resources Department has planned to renovate the city stretch of the water course.

The canal runs from Pettavaithalai to Vazhavanthankottai in Tiruchi district. It would be renovated to protect it from the impact of urbanisation.

In 2021, the department planned to renovate the canal at a cost of ₹465 crore but due to funds crunch, the estimation was revised.

The renovation project, being taken up at a revised estimate of ₹172 crore, includes strengthening of retaining walls, renovation of eight check dams and 120 sluices, and construction of drains to prevent flow of wastewater. Preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) is under way and is expected to be completed within a month.

“A meeting with the WRD and Corporation officials was held, and ways to protect the water for irrigation from urban pollution were discussed. Once the DPR is completed, it will be sent for administrative sanction,” said a senior official. The department plans to renovate the city stretch of the canal for a length of about 15 km.

The canal, which is said to have been built about 1,000 years ago during the Chola period, runs for a distance of about 71 km from Pettavaithalai to Vazhavanthankottai and irrigates over 32,000 acres. It feeds 36 small and big irrigation tanks in Tiruchi and Thanjavur districts. (The Uyyakondan extension canal runs beyond Vazhavanthankottai to feed some irrigation tanks in Thanjavur district.) 

The water in the canal has been highly polluted over the past few decades with several open drains and raw domestic sewage being let into it at 32 points in the city stretch between Palakkarai and Ariyamangalam. Solid waste is dumped at several points.