Preliminary work to begin shortly on Rettaikulam – Ooththumalai Periyakulam canal connection project

Minister for Environment V. K. Rajeev has informed that preliminary work on implementing the Rettaikulam – Ooththumalai Periyakulam canal connection project would commence shortly.

Inaugurating the 5-day-long ‘Saral Thiruvizha’, the annual cultural festival, at Courtallam on Friday, Mr. Rajeev said the Tamil Nadu government was keen on translating the 64-year-old dream of implementing the Rettaikulam – Ooththumalai Periyakulam canal connection project into reality.

During active monsoons, the surplus water of Chittar enters the Tamirabharani only to be wasted as millions of cubic feet of water gets drained into the sea. Hence, a new linking canal from Rettaikulam near Surandai to the Ooththumalai periyakulam for storing the surplus water and 18 other irrigation tanks en-route was planned. Besides immensely recharging the groundwater table, the project will irrigate 7,500 acres of land in this dry region.

After this demand was raised in the Assembly in 1962, then Chief Minister K. Kamaraj asked the officials to explore the possibilities of implementing the scheme. Upon getting positive reports, he laid the foundation stone for the project.

After he resigned from the post under the famous ‘Kamaraj Plan’ in 1963, the Rettaikulam – Ooththumalai Periyakulam canal connection project was also shelved and is waiting to see the light of the day even after 64 years.

The Minister appealed to the public not to use-and-throw plastic products to Courtallam and not to feed the monkeys. “Since our food badly affects the digestive system of monkeys, the population of monkeys in Courtallam has come down to just 1,000 in this tourist spot. Hence, the visitors and the locals should avoid feeding the monkeys,” Dr. Rajeev appealed.

District Collector Ranjeet Singh, Superintendent of Police S. Ashok Kumar, Sub-Collector, Tenkasi Vaishnavi Paul, District Forest Officer R. Rajmohan, District Revenue Officer M. Veerasamy and others participated in the event.