Farmers seek release of water from Sathanur dam in Tiruvannamalai on January 14 for irrigation

Farmers from Tiruvannamalai, Kallakuruchi and Villupuram districts on Wednesday requested the district administration to release water from the Sathanur dam in Tiruvannamalai on January 14, a day before Pongal festival, to commence the first season of cultivation for 2026.

At the consultative meeting that was chaired by Collector K. Tharpagaraj at the Collectorate here, farmers said that release of water from the dam before the festival will help them cultivate paddy before summer season commences. “Apart from being an auspicious occasion (Pongal festival), early release of water will also help us to harvest before harsh weather sets in during April - May. Also, the region has witnessed deficit rainfall during this monsoon. As a result, release of water will help farmers in these districts,” said B. Vembu, a farmer.

Apart from around 80 farmers from these districts, other stakeholders in the meeting including officials of the Water Resources Department (WRD), which maintains the facility, PWD, Department of Agriculture, revenue and police also participated. “According to India Meteorological Department (IMD) predictions, the region could witness rains on January 10-11. If that happens, release of water would be post-Pongal festival as sufficient water will be available for farmers to begin cultivation due to rains,” K. Santhosh, Assistant Engineer (AE), WRD (Sathanur Dam), told The Hindu.

WRD officials said that at present, the dam has water to its full storage capacity of 119 feet. In other words, the dam has a total of 7,321 mcft of water. Of this, 35 mcft of water will be kept for drinking purposes for villages in the district. Also, 1,200 mcft of water will be reserved for farmers along Thirukovilur river basin (Kallakuruchi and Villupuram districts) to irrigate around 5,000 acres of farmland. Remaining water will be released for farmers in Tiruvannamalai district to cultivate around 45,000 acres.

Minister for Public Works , E.V. Velu will open the sluice gates of the dam that is located 8 km away from the reservoir downstream in the presence of Collector K. Tharpagaraj. Like earlier, water will be released for 110 days and distributed to the left and right bank canals from the pick-up dam.

Every day, on an average, 520 cusecs of water will be released from the dam for farming. In a year, 4 tmc of water is stored in the dam for irrigation. The dam also helps to store water in 88 tanks along the route in these districts.

While water from the dam’s Left Bank Canal feeds 30 tanks in Tiruvannamalai and 10 in Villupuram, the Right Bank Canal is connected to 48 tanks in Villupuram.