For the first time in the region, floating excavators have been deployed to clear silt from a 6-km stretch of the ancient Chola period Uyyakondan Canal here.
This is part of the Rs 14 crore renovation and modernisation of the canal taken up by the district administration, officials said today.
In recent months, officials have expedited work on the renovation of the canal that has been subject to heavy urban pollution.
The plan was to complete the entire renovation before the release of the water for the irrigation season. The farmers have been complaining that the water has not been reaching them on time due to excess silt in the canal.
Public Works Department (PWD) sources said the canal bed has been silted with solid waste and mud. This had made it difficult to deploy traditional equipment to remove the silt necessitating, the use of floating excavators that can move around easily and clean up the silt quickly.
Presently, five floating excavators were in use.
The 1,000-year-old Uyyakondan canal, built by Raja Raja Cholan, has an ayacut of 32,000 acres and feeds 36 tanks in Tiruchirappalli and Thanjavur districts.
The district administration has also launched a drive to clean up and prevent pollution of the canal.
