Minister for Water Resources Duraimurugan inaugurating the new bridge on Friday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
A new high-level bridge across the Ponnai, a tributary of the Palar river, on the Chittoor-Tiruttani High Road at Paramasathu village near Katpadi was inaugurated on Friday.
Minister for Water Resources Duraimurugan inaugurated the bridge in the presence of Minister for Public Works, Highways and Minor Ports E.V. Velu, Minister for Handlooms and Textiles R. Gandhi, MP D.M. Kathir Anand, and Collector V.R. Subbulaxmi.
The new bridge was built adjacent to 1976 bridge that was badly damaged during Cyclone Nivar in November 2020. Since then, residents have been taking a detour of nearly 10 km through Arcot, to reach Melvisharam, Walajah, Katpadi and Vellore town.
“The new bridge will help us transport farm produce from villages to nearest towns easily. Buses will also resume their services on the new route to villages across the river,” said S. Velan, a farmer.
Funded under the Permanent Floods Restoration Scheme 2021-22, the ₹35 crore-bridge, which was built by the NABARD Wing of the State Highways Department, is 297 metres long and 15 metres wide — enough for two buses to use it at a time. It is supported by at least 16 pillars.
The new bridge is four times longer than the old one, which was only 70 metres long, and provides easy accessibility for more villages along the river during inundation. “It has tiled footpaths, LED lights, inlets to discharge rainwater into the river, reflectors, sign boards and hand railings,” R. Poovarasan, Assistant Engineer, State Highways, told The Hindu.
The new bridge is a lifeline for at least 15 villages including Paramasathu, Vallimalai, Keeraisathu, Kottanatham, Lalapettai, Vasur and Kondakuppam in Vellore and Ranipet districts. Prior to the bridge, they used to travel longer distances to reach key towns in these districts for emergencies.
The Minister also inspected the on-going restoration work of the damaged check dam across the river in Ponnai village near Katpadi. The dam was badly damaged during the November 2021 floods. Restoratinon work, funded by the World Bank, began at a cost of ₹19.46 crore in March 2023.
Built in 1857, the Ponnai check dam has water channels on its eastern, southern and western side, covering a distance of 51.96 km, 32 km and 18 km respectively. Water from these channels, which discharges excess rainwater to 122 lakes in Vellore and Ranipet districts, irrigates more than 20,000 hectares belonging to 10,243 farmers. Around 10.20 lakh people also depend on them for their domestic consumption. The restoration of the check dam will be completed this year-end, officials said.
