Aliyar () Reservoir is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

located in Aliyar village near

Pollachi Pollachi is a town and a taluk headquarters in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu state, India. Located about to the south of Coimbatore, it is the second largest town in the district after Coimbatore. Pollachi is a popular Marketplace for ja ...

town in

Coimbatore District Coimbatore district is one of the 38 districts in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. Coimbatore is the administrative headquarters of the district. It is one of the most industrialized districts and a major textile, industrial, commercial, educ ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

. The dam is located in the foothills of

Valparai Valparai (originally known as Poonachimalai) is a Taluk and hill station in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, India. It consists of Anamalai Tiger Reserve (earlier known as Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park (IGWLS&NP) and ...

, in the

Anaimalai Hills The Anamala or Anaimalai, also known as the Elephant Mountains, are a range of mountains in the southern Western Ghats of central Kerala ( Idukki district, Ernakulam district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district) and span the border of wes ...

of the Western Ghats. It is about from Coimbatore. The dam offers some ideal getaways including a park, garden, aquarium, play area and a mini Theme-Park maintained by Tamil Nadu Fisheries Corporation for visitors enjoyment. The scenery is beautiful, with mountains surrounding three quarters of the reservoir. Boating is also available.Pollachi Dams
/ref>

History

The Aliyar Dam was constructed during 1959-1969 across the

Aliyar river Aliyar is one of the tributaries of the river Kannadipuzha. ''Kannadipuzha'' is one of the main tributaries of the river Bharathapuzha, the second-longest river in Kerala, south India. Its source is the Aliyar dam in Aliyar near Pollachi in Tam ...

, mainly for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

purposes. Aliyar Dam was inaugurated on 2 October 1962 (Gandhi Jayanti day) by then Prime minister of India,

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

K Kamaraj Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975, hinduonnet.com. 15–28 September 2001), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras State (Tamil Nadu) ...

, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu state presided over the function. The project was commissioned in September 2002 to generate Hydro Electric Power.

Hydrography

Aliyar lake receives water from Upper Aliyar Reservoir through the

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

power station in Navamali and the Parambikulam reservoir through a contour canal. Aliyar dam, built as a part of Parambikulam aliyar project (PAP), retains a large reservoir. The dam is around in length. The lowest level outlet of the reservoir is above

Mean Sea Level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. ...

(MSL) and the canal intake is above MSL. The

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure tha ...

is above MSL and the FRL (Full Reservoir Level) is above MSL. The maximum surface area is (1,600 acres). The volume of water at FRL is 3.864

Tmcft Tmcft, (Tmc ft), (TMC), (tmc), is the abbreviation of thousand million cubic feet (1,000,000,000 = 109 = 1 billion), commonly used in India in reference to volume of water in a reservoir or river flow. Conversion 1 tmcft is equivalent to: * ( ...

(). The maximum depth is and the mean depth . The volume development is 1.2 m. The highest inflow usually occurs during July and August. The shoreline is poorly indented, the shore development is poor and shallow and the

Aquatic plant Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from algae and other microphytes. A macrophyte is a plant that ...

s and

limnology Limnology ( ; from Greek λίμνη, ''limne'', "lake" and λόγος, ''logos'', "knowledge") is the study of inland aquatic ecosystems. The study of limnology includes aspects of the biological, chemical, physical, and geological characteristi ...

of the

littoral zone The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal areas ...

is also very limited.Limnological studies on parambikulam Aliyar-project-I Aliyar Reservoir (Madras State), India
Journal Aquatic Sciences - Research Across Boundaries, Birkhäuser Basel, ISSN 1015-1621 (Print) 1420-9055 (Online), Volume 32, Number 2 /, September, 1970, DOI 10.1007/BF02502556, pp 405-417, SpringerLink, 11 October 2006

Fisheries

Ailyar reservoir was studied by the Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute
CFRI
for eleven years from 1982 to 1992. The rate of energy conversion at primary producer level and at the fish production level at Aliyar is considered higher than in any other Indian reservoir. The

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

fish of the reservoir includes 40 species belonging to 13 families, plus seven stocked species

Hydel Power Project

This project consists of a series of dams interconnected by tunnels and canals for harnessing the waters of the Parambikulam, Aliyar, Sholiyar, Thunakadavu, Thekkadi and Palar rivers, flowing at various elevations, for irrigation and power generation. The scheme is an outstanding example of engineering skill. At present, the discharges are being let down through three sets of sluices/ canals, viz., Pollachi Canal, Vettaikaranpudur Canal and the river sluices. Under this scheme, the irrigation discharges let down through river sluices of the Aliyar Dam utilized for power generation in a power house at the toe of the dam. Being a micro hydel scheme, this project is subsidized by the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources,

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

Visitor information

Aliyar dam is a popular tourist destination. Near Aliyar dam are some visitor attractions including a park, garden, aquarium, play area and a mini Theme-Park maintained by Tamil Nadu Fisheries Corporation for visitors enjoyment. Temple of Consciousness is situated near Aliyar dam entrance at Arutperunjothi Nagar, where Vethathiri Maharishi resides. The scenery is beautiful, with mountains surrounding three quarters of the reservoir. Boating is also available.

Monkey Falls Monkey Falls are natural waterfalls located near the uphill ghat road Valparai on the Pollachi-Valparai road in the Anaimalai Hills range, in Coimbatore district.

is located at 6 km from the dam next to Arutperunjothi Nagar and Forest Department Checkpost. Overnight stay is possible in the forest rest house. A treetop house provides accommodation for the adventurous.Infrastructure Development & Tourism, Govt. of Tamil Nadu
/ref> The Dam and Park and the overall surroundings of the dam are very poorly maintained as of 2017.

References