The government of Tamil Nadu has cleared the inclusion of 16 more sub-basins of rivers at a revised cost of Rs 649.55 crore under the World Bank-assisted Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernisation Project (TNIAMP-II).
Under Phase-I, work is in progress on 18 sub-basins, for which a sum of about Rs 744 crore has been set aside. Also, an amount of Rs 43.63 crore has been sanctioned for rehabilitation of tank system. TNIAMP-II, which is estimated to cost Rs 2,962 crore totally, will bring 66 sub-basins under its fold.
The aim of the project is to increase the coverage of ayacut and food production. Among the projects to be implemented are rehabilitation and modernisation of system tanks (which are being served by water releases from rivers), non-system or rain-fed tanks, anicuts and supply channels in the sub-basins.
Launched in 2017, the TNIAMP-II, a follow-up to the Integrated-Irrigated Agriculture Modernisation and Water Bodies Restoration Management Project, will go on till 2024.
Under the current phase, 16 sub-basins are going to be taken up which have ayacut of about 1.55 lakh ha. To enable the execution of work, detailed project reports (DPRs) are being prepared and work will be complete by April 2020 for the World Bank’s review. Among the sub-basins being covered are Lower Coleroon, Thirumanimuthar, Pachyar, Chittar and Uppar.