Meenkara Dam is an
embankment or earthen dam built on the banks of the river
Gayatripuzha
Gayathripuzha River is one of the main tributaries of the Bharathapuzha River, the second-longest river in Kerala, south India. It originates from Anamala hills, passes through Kollengode, Nenmara (Nemmara), Alathur, Padur and Pazhayannur bef ...
, a tributary of the river
Bharathapuzha
Bharathappuzha ("River of Bhārata"), also known as the Nila or Ponnani River, is a river in India in the state of Kerala. With a length of 209 km, it is the second longest river that flows through Kerala after the Periyar. It flows throu ...
, at
Muthalamada in the Muthalamada Grama Panchayat near
Kollengode in the
Palakkad district
Palakkad District () is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala. It was carved out from the southeastern region of the former Malabar District on 1 January 1957. It is located at the centre of Kerala. It is the largest district i ...
of
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
with masonry spillway sections. It is part of the Gayatri Irrigation Project. The project was started in 1956 and partially commissioned in 1960. The project was fully completed in 1964. The irrigation scheme has been prepared for agriculture and drinking water in Palakkad district. Farms in Chittoor, Nemmara, Alathur in Palakkad district and Vadakkancherry in Thrissur district will benefit from this irrigation scheme.
Description
The Dam is an
earthen dam
An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface and ...
with total length of including length masonry in spillway section.(Length of earthen dam is 934 m and the length of masonry dam is 30 m) The height of masonry dam is 18.9 m and 2 numbers of spillway gates of size 12.19 m x 4.26 m. Top width of the dam is 7 meters.
The
canal system
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or river engineering, engineered channel (geography), channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport watercraft, vehicles (e.g. ...
consists of two main canals and branch canals. There is a
sluice
Sluice ( ) is a word for a channel controlled at its head by a movable gate which is called a sluice gate. A sluice gate is traditionally a wood or metal barrier sliding in grooves that are set in the sides of the waterway and can be considered ...
for drawing the water. Size of canal sluice is 1.52 m x 1.83 m. Left bank canal which takes off from the sluice has a length of 20.5 km and it receives water from the
Chulliyar reservoir also, as it is connected by a leading channel from the
Chulliyar dam. The sill level of canal sluice and river sluice is +143.64 m. The water for the right canal is let down to the river from the Meenkara reservoir and is picked up by a small dam which is 5.5 km downstream.
Location and purpose
The Meenkara dam Project is located in the Muthalamada village in Palakkad District of Kerala State. Location of the Dam is Latitude 76 ° 48’E Longitude 10 °38’N. The nearest towns are Kollangode in Kerala and Pollachi in Tamil Nadu. Meenkara Dam is an earthen dam with masonry spillway section and meets water requirement of an ayacut of 3035 Ha. Gross storage capacity of the reservoir estimated is 11.3 MCM and has a catchment area of 90.65 km
2. Out of the gross storage capacity of 11.3 MCM, a minimum permissible storage of 1.0 MCM is fixed as dead storage. Meenkara reservoir is a multipurpose reservoir of which the Water stored is mainly used for irrigation. A small part of storage is used for drinking water supply. Average rainfall is about 1200 m.m compared to the state average of 3000 m.m.
Water distribution for agriculture begins in the month of November and continues till March. Major crop cultivated in the ayacut region is paddy.
Sluice is opening to a leading channel and from there diverted to LBC and RBC. There are two spill ways and the spillway is opening to a leading channel and from there diverted to Meenkara river.
Reservoir
Catchment Area at dam site (km2)is 90.65 and Maximum Water Level (m) is 156.36 meters. Full reservoir Level (m) is 156.36 meters.
[CBIP(Central Board of Irrigation and Power I.,Sedimentation studies in Pothundy, Malampuzha, Meenkara Reservoirs. Technical Report Number 47. New Delhi. (1994)]
Location
Latitude 10°38'00"
Longitude 76°48'00"
References
{{coord missing, Kerala
Dams in Palakkad district