Man-made islands for local migratory birds, boating and tiled walking track for visitors in the twin lakes - Kazhinjur and Dharapadavedu — near Katpadi town in Vellore will be ready in six month as more than 55% of the total work has been completed.
Accompanied by Deputy Mayor M. Sunil Kumar, Minister for Water Resources Duraimurugan on Sunday inspected the work, which was started in December 2022 by the Water Resources Department (WRD) that maintains the twin irrigation tanks.
With the withdrawal of northeast monsoon in the coming days, the work might be fast tracked due to decline in groundwater level around the lakes. It would help ongoing desilting and deepening of the waterbodies much faster. “The lakes help to recharge the groundwater covering at least 8-10 villages in its surroundings. Most of these areas are farming villages,” R. Ramkumar, Assistant Engineer (AE), PWD (Katpadi), told The Hindu.
Spread over 100 acres, the twin lakes are separated by a narrow channel. Each lake, on an average, can store 35 mcft of water. Under the Rehabilitation and Restoration of Twin Lakes scheme, the WRD took up the work at a cost of ₹28.45 crore.
As part of it, the lakes are being desilted to the original depth of six metres. The lakes will be deepened to store additional rainwater during monsoon. A tiled walkers’ path is also being laid around the two lakes and a nine-ft.-high compound is being built to ensure safety of visitors. Boating facilities will also be done to attract local tourists.
Man-made islands will be built at the centre of the lakes so that the waterbodies also become a tourist hub. It will attract migratory birds. Native tree species will be planted on the islands. Saplings will be procured free of cost from the Department of Horticulture and farmers.
At present, more than 15,000 residents in at least eight surrounding villages depend on these lakes. Borewells were dug around the bund of these lakes by localbodies to meet water needs of its residents. Once rejuvenated, the lakes will store more rainwater and will help cover more residents to provide water supply.
Of 519 tanks in Vellore, 101 are maintained by the WRD. In Katpadi, the WRD maintains at least 24 tanks, including Kazhinjur and Dharapadavedu.
