The state Water Resources Department (WRD) has lodged two separate proposals with the government, first seeking ₹83 lakh for a feasibility study and detailed project report (DPR) to divert surplus Cauvery water to the two dams, and later a revised request of ₹94 lakh that also includes a solar‑powered pumping scheme.
The original scheme envisions a more than 54‑kilometre pipeline that would draw water from the Mayanur barrage on the Cauvery and convey it to the Ponnaniyar and Kannuthu reservoirs, which together serve roughly 2,834 acres of agricultural land in the Mugavanur, Sekkanam, Pazhayakottai and Elamanam villages.
Ponnaniyar dam, built in 1974, sits at an elevation of 195 metres and holds about 120 million cubic feet of water; Kannuthu dam, a smaller structure with a capacity of 56.16 million cubic feet, lies at a lower altitude. Both dams have suffered poor inflows in recent years, leaving local cultivators without reliable irrigation.
Farmers argue that pumping water from Mayanur to Ponnaniyar would be technically difficult because the pipeline would have to climb to a high elevation. They propose shifting the intake point to Thavittupalayam, where the ground level is roughly half that of the Mayanur route, making the lift less demanding despite a longer overall distance.
"Considering the topography of the region, we feel that the project is highly feasible if Thavittupalayam is chosen as water intake point instead of Mayanur," said M. Thangaraj, a farmer from Mampathai.
K. M. Mohamed Hussain, the Communist Party of India’s rural district treasurer for Tiruchirappalli, echoed the sentiment, noting that a lower‑elevation alignment would simplify construction and reduce energy consumption.
If the alignment is altered, the project could still achieve its goal of stabilising irrigation for the ayacut areas, but the WRD will need to incorporate the new route into its DPR and reassess cost estimates before any construction begins.