Water hyacinth removal intensified across Cauvery Delta, says WRD official

The Water Resources Department has stepped up efforts to clear dense clusters of water hyacinth from irrigation channels and waterbodies across the Cauvery delta districts, Chief Engineer (Tiruchi Region) S. Sivakumar said on Wednesday.

Inspecting the ongoing removal works in Maruthur, near Vedaranyam, he said the Tamil Nadu government had directed the department to clear the aquatic weed — which severely obstructs water flow and affects irrigation efficiency — from priority stretches in Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur and Mayiladuthurai districts. “So far, about 35% of the targeted work has been completed. The operation has been intensified in all four districts simultaneously,”. Mr. Sivakumar said.

Water hyacinth had proliferated over 1,210 locations covering nearly 1,200 km of irrigation canals and watercourses. Of this, 380 km had been cleared. To speed up the operation, 200 earthmovers and floating machines have been deployed across districts. In Vedaranyam region alone, four additional floating machines have been sanctioned to accelerate the process.

“This is the first time that such a large-scale, coordinated removal is being taken up across all delta districts at the same time. Steps will be taken to ensure long-term control of the weed,” he said. The work would continue until the hyacinth is fully removed, he added.

Senior officials including Dileepan (Cauvery Basin Monitoring Engineer), Palanivel (Special Monitoring Engineer), Rajendran (Executive Engineer), Mathiyazhagan (Assistant Executive Engineer), Vignesh (Engineer) and ATMA project team member Udhayamurugaiyan were present during the inspection.