KT Weirs in place of wall check dams recommended

Hyderabad: State government has been recommended to construct KT Weirs (Kolhapuri Type Weirs) and bridge- com-barrages in the place of regular solid wall check dams. A 10-member official team from Irrigation, Panchyat Raj and Road and Buildings Department was here recently on a two day visit to Maharashtra and studied the functioning of KT weirs in the preservation of water resources in the neighbouring State.

The report prepared by the team was submitted to the Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao here on Friday. The officials found that the existing check dams in the State had failed in delivering the benefits such as ground water recharge, drinking water facility in villages and irrigation during late Kharif and Rabi by storing water at the end of monsoon.

The advantage of KT Weirs are optimum utilisation of water for irrigation and water supply, no need for frequent silt clearance as in case of check dams and no energy dissipation arrangements are required. KT Weirs proved to be successful in Maharashtra with the people’s participation. Participatory Irrigation management should be given priority while taking a policy decision on the construction of weirs and bridge come barrages in the State.