The parapet of the bridge over the head sluice of the Peruvalai Canal near Upper Anicut (Mukkombu) collapsed on Thursday morning.
The canal, which branches off from Upper Anicut, is one of the major irrigation canals in the district with an ayacut area of about 19,500 acres. The head sluice was built in 1934.
On Thursday morning, the parapet along with the supporting wall on one side of bridge over the head sluice caved in. Public Works Department officials attributed the collapse to the more than 80-year-old brick masonry structure weakening due to age and possible seepage of water from drinking water pipeline passing across. Public Works Department officials acted swiftly to clear the debris and closed the bridge for traffic.
With the Mettur dam scheduled to be opened on Friday for the irrigation season, the incident caused a flutter among the farming community, rekindling memories of the collapse of a portion of the barrage across Kollidam river at Upper Anicut in August 2018. A new barrage is currently under construction close by to replace the British built structure.
However, PWD officials sought to allay apprehensions and sought to emphasis that the structure was not connected in any way to the irrigation structures on the Cauvery and Kollidam rivers. The damage to the structure would in no way affect release of water for irrigation in the Peruvalai canal too.
“Water is normally released in the canal only after water reaches the tail-end of the Cauvery river. Nevertheless, we have commenced repairs and the structure will be reinforced with concrete. The work will go on round-the-clock and completed within the next 15 days,” S. Ramamoorthy, Chief Engineer, PWD, WRO, Tiruchi region, told The Hindu after inspecting the spot. He inspected the site along with S. Thiruvettaiselvam, Superintending Engineer, PWD Mid-Cauvery Basin, R.Baskar, Executive Engineer, PWD, Tiruchi, and Jayaraman, Assistant Executive Engineer, PWD.
Farmers too hoped that the PWD would be able to complete the work in time. “Water is due to be released in the canal after 15-20 days from now and some farmers are preparing for kuruvai paddy cultivation. We hope that the officials will manage to complete the repairs in time,” said M. Mathivanan of Pallapuram, a farmer dependent on the canal for irrigation.
PWD officials also dismissed allegations that the desilting works going on in the vicinity of the sluice had triggered the collapse of the parapet. “The works were taking place well away from the sluice,” an officer said.
