Chennai, Feb 25 (IANS): The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) on Monday said the Rs.32.5 crore, 1.19 km long check dam it is building across the Palar river in Tamil Nadu's Kancheepuram district will be ready by March 2020.

In a statement issued here, the DAE said the 'Bhoomi Pooja' or the ground-breaking ceremony was performed on Monday for the project that provides an additional storage capacity of 1,500 million cubic metres with two fillings.

About 330 hectares of agricultural land would benefit through this scheme, it said.

The check dam will have above-surface structure of 1.5 metre height to store more water and also recharge the water table, while the sub-surface dyke/wall will be built to a depth of eight metres to prevent sea water intrusion and enhance the groundwater recharge in the aquifer.

This innovative design was necessary as the conventional check dam design would not serve the purpose due to its proximity to the sea and backwaters, the DAE said.

On completion of this check dam by March 2020, the water stored and recharged would be used for domestic and agricultural purposes in the surrounding areas.

Tamil Nadu Ministers C. Ve. Shanmugam and P.Benjamin and officials of Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research and Madras Atomic Power Station were present at the ground-breaking ceremony.