Desilting of Kalingarayan baby channel completed

WRD completes desilting of Kalingarayan canal's baby channel, with work underway to remove desilted earth.

The Water Resources Department (WRD) has completed the desilting of the baby channel of the Kalingarayan canal, while work is nearing completion to remove the desilted earth.

The 91.1-km-long Kalingarayan canal, constructed by the Kongu chieftain Kalingarayan in the 13th century, irrigates 15,743 acres across Erode, Modakkurichi, and Kodumudi taluks. To address pollution caused by the dumping of household waste and the discharge of industrial effluents, a baby channel was constructed 11 years ago from Bhavani to Vairapalayam. Farmers and residents had been urging the Water Resources Department to take up desilting of this channel.

On May 22, Minister for Housing, Prohibition, and Excise, S. Muthusamy, inaugurated desilting work along a 20-km stretch of the baby channel, at a total cost of ₹28.25 lakh. The work began from the Kalingarayan anicut in Bhavani and extended up to the 12/3rd mile in the city. An earthmover was deployed to remove weeds and dumped waste.

Currently, the removal of the dumped waste is in progress, with 70% of the work completed. Officials noted that the baby channel was previously clogged mainly due to weeds and plastic waste, which obstructed water flow.

A WRD official said that a proposal to extend the baby channel by an additional six km, from Vairapalayam to Vendipalayam, had been submitted to the government and has since been approved. A government order for the project is expected soon, after which construction will begin, the official added.