Minister for Water Resources Duraimurugan inaugurated the ₹24.82 crore new dyke built across the Palar river at Arumparuthi village near Katpadi in Vellore on Wednesday, ending a long-standing demand of farmers in the region.

Officials of the Water Resources Department (WRD), which executed the work, said that the new dyke at Arumparuthi is among the five dykes built at Katpadi and Gudiyatham taluk across the Palar river and its tributary, Malataru, in Vellore.

“The new facility will help us to cultivate at least three seasons in a year. It also contributes to the depletion of water resources in the area,” said K. Vembu, a farmer.

Other new dykes are being built at Shenbakkam (Vellore Corporation), Kugaiyanallore, Masigam villages in the district. In Ranipet, a dyke at Thiruparkadal village near Walajah town is under construction.

Among these, the dyke at Thiruparkadal village is the longest facility (1,345 metres), whereas the dyke in Masigam village near Katpadi across Malataru river is the shortest one (220 metres).

“Dykes help to store excess rainwater that gets discharged into the Palar river. Such a facility was built depending on the depletion of the groundwater level in identified areas along the river,” R. Ramkumar, Assistant Engineer (AE), PWD (Katpadi), told The Hindu.

On average, each dyke helps to recharge groundwater for about three-km radius around the facility. It will help to irrigate around 20,000 hectares of farmland in at least 30 villages. Paddy is the chief crop in these villages due to less water usage.

Built under the National Agriculture Development Scheme, the new dyke at Arumparuthi village is 720 metres long, 85 metres wide across the river and eight metres in depth. Apart from irrigation, the new dyke helps to recharge 251 farmwells in Katpadi area. It will also increase the groundwater level to a distance of at least three km in its vicinity.

WRD officials said that at present, civic bodies, including Vellore Corporation, have borewells near the new dyke to draw water for domestic consumption. The new facility will help to increase water level in these bore wells.