Chennai, India – In a statement made by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) said they will be constructing a check dam across the Palar river in Tamil Nadu. The Palar river passes through Kancheepuram district of Chennai, Tamil Nadu where the dam would be constructed. The dam reportedly 1.19 km long and is being funded by the DAE itself who estimates that the dam will cost around $400,000. And the estimated completion time for the dam is around 2 years.
The ground-breaking ceremony for the dam was performed on Monday. Tamil Nadu’s Minister of Law and Prisons, C. Ve. Shanmugam along with Minister of Rural Industries, P.Benjamin and officials of Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research and Madras Atomic Power Station were also present at the ground-breaking ceremony.
The check Dam provides a 1,500 million cubic metres volume with two fillings to store the water. And the main function of the check dam is to fulfill the drinking water needs and irrigation need of 330 hectares of agricultural land of the nearby areas.
The DAE said that the normal check dam wouldn’t serve the required purpose of agricultural irrigation and drinking water supply, due to its close proximity to the sea. Therefore design innovations had to be made to overcome these problems.