Check dam to come up across the Cooum near Adigathur to augment drinking water supply

Adigathur is one of the few locations where the Cooum flows in its pristine form; the river carries maximum of 25,000 cubic feet per second in this portion

The unpolluted stretch of the Cooum, considered the lifeline of Tiruvallur district, will soon get one more storage structure. The Water Resources Department (WRD) has started survey for the construction of a check dam at Adigathur across the river.

Located 60 km away from the city, Adigathur is one of the few locations where the river flows in its pristine form. The new check dam would come up at the tail end of the clean portion of the river.

The department plans to start the construction work after the Pongal festival. A team of officials began demarcating the river boundary to form a new bund and enumerate encroached space by agricultural fields on Friday.

Officials said the new structure would come up at the 16th km of the Cooum. It would be built at a height of 1.5 metres across the 200-metre wide river. “We can save 50 million cubic feet of flood water and recharge groundwater in the surrounding places,” said an official.

The river has a maximum carrying capacity of 25,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) in this portion. Constructing a check dam would help improve the groundwater level.

About 10 neighbouring villages, including Melnallathur, Thandalam, Kadampathur, Selai and Egattur, which depend on the river for drinking water and irrigation, will benefit from the scheme.

There is scope for drawing freshwater to supply to Tiruvallur municipality too as Tiruvallur Manavala Nagar is only 2 km away from the river. The ₹17-crore project is likely to be completed before the onset of the northeast monsoon in 2023, the officials said.