The Lower Anaicut or Anaikkarai is a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

and bridge built on the Kollidam (the northern tributary of

Kaveri River The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery, the anglicized name) is one of the major Indian rivers flowing through the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Kaveri river rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri range in the Western Ghats, Kodagu dist ...

) in the Indian state of

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 ...

. It was built in 1902 by the

colonial administration Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

of the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

for irrigating the erstwhile

South Arcot South Arcot District was a district in the Madras Presidency of British India. It covered the area of the present-day districts of Cuddalore, Kallakurichi and Viluppuram in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The district was divided into eight tal ...

district. Stones from the ruins of

Gangaikonda Cholapuram Gaṅgaikoṇḍa Chōḻapuram is a village located near to Jayankondam, Ariyalur district, Tamil Nadu, India. It became the capital of the Chola dynasty in c. 1025 by Chola emperor Rajendra I, and served as the capital for around 250 years. ...

were used to construct the dam. It is situated about 70 miles below the Upper Anaicut and 25 km from

Kumbakonam Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum) or Kudanthai is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the headq ...

. It has a shutter and sluice system that distributes the Kollidam water into various waterways. At Lower Anaicut, the Kollidam branches off into Manniar and Uppanai. Lower Anaicut is the terminal barrage across the Kaveri river system for sharing the river water per Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal. 10

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: * ( ...

water is allocated for the minimum environmental flows in the dowm stream of the Lower Anaicut. Another 4 tmcft is identified as unavoidable wastage to the sea from the Lower Anaicut/river basin. If Tamil Nadu is unable to use the available Kaveri waters and water over flows downstream of Lower Anaicut in excess of 14 tmcft, the excess water gone to sea is considered as part of the utilisable water under the share of Tamil Nadu per the Kaveri Water Dispute Tribunal.

References

{{Coord, 11, 8, 20, N, 79, 27, 6, E, type:landmark_region:IN, display=title, name=Lower Anaicut Dams in Tamil Nadu Kaveri River Dams completed in 1902 1902 establishments in British India