Bhavanisagar Dam entering 70th year today

Bhavanisagar Dam is a 30 square mile reservoir at the foothills of the Western Ghats at the confluence of Bhavani River and Moyar. It is 17 km from Sathyamangalam in Erode District. The construction work which started in 1948 and lasted for 7 years was completed in 1955 and on August 19, the dam was inaugurated by the then Chief Minister of Madras Presidency Kamaraj.
Then, for the construction of this dam, Rs 10.3lakh rupees. Hailed as the second largest dam in Tamil Nadu after Mettur and Asia's largest earthen dam, Bhavanisagar Dam can store 32.8 TMC of water at a height of 105 feet. 2 lakh 7 thousand acres of land in Erode, Tirupur and Karur districts are irrigated through the 200 km Kilbhavani main canal. Not only this, but also 17 thousand 65 acre get irrigated through Thadapally canal and 6850 acres in Arakankottai Canal under the Bavanisagar project in Gobi area. 
Besides, 17 thousand 776 acres of agricultural lands are getting irrigation facility through Kalingarayan Canal in Erode region.
With this, Bhavanisagar Dam has the largest irrigated area after Thanjavur. After the construction of Bhavanisagar Dam and the irrigation of Kilbhavani, the barren lands were used to raise paddy, sugarcane, banana and turmeric cultivation.
The drinking water shortage in the villages was also over in the district after the construction of the dam. 
Farmers praise Bhavanisagar Dam as the basis for development, employment, women's advancement,  and social development. The then Erode MLA M.A. Iswaran was responsible for the construction of this dam and the Kilpawani Irrigation Project. He forced the then government to build the 
dam. 
The farmers, who welcomed the construction of Mani Mandapam for him at Bhavanisagar on behalf of the government, call him as the father of the Kilbhavani irrigation scheme.Farmers, who claim that the dam's base is full of silt, have demanded that it be removed with modern technology and save additional water. 
Even though it is an earthen dam, Bhavanisagar dam stands majestically after 69 years with no change in stability and the pride of uplifting the lives of 
farmers.