New regulator dam to come up at Mukkombu: CM K Palaniswami

Tiruchirapalli: Steps were being taken on a war-footing to repair nine shutters of Mukkombu regulator dam which collapsed due to the "pressure of flood waters", Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami said on Friday.

He was speaking to reporters after inspecting the over a century-old dam across Coleroon river here. 
 
He said a new regulator would be constructed at a cost of Rs 325 crore. Nine of the 45 shutters of the Mukkombu regulator dam collapsed on August 22 due to continuous heavy flow of water in the preceding days. 

Mukkombu is the spot where Coleroon river branches off from Cauvery, forming Srirangam island and the dam is used to regulate flow of water in the rivers. 

"Pressure of flood waters had caused the collapse. A large amount of water was released for the first eight days in the first phase... and then for 12 days in the second phase," the chief minister said. 

He was referring to the recent release of water up to two lakh cusecs from the Mettur dam, which surplussed twice in July, following heavy inflow from Karnataka.  

The repair work was being taken up on a war-footing and would be completed in four days, he added. 

Meanwhile, a report by Public Works Department said motorised automatic system to open the shutters could have led to the damage resulting in the shutters being washed away. 

Till 2015, the 45 shutters were manually operated before automatic shutter opening system was installed with a Rs 10 crore World Bank assistance for the restoration of the regulator dam. 

The report said the dam, totally measuring 630 metres, had collapsed to a length of 110 feet. 

A team of technical experts was studying the cause for the collapse and the exact reason would be known after they completed it. 

The report said due to the floods in Karnataka recently, excess water of 2.70 lakh cusecs had been discharged via the river Coleroon.