The Lower Anaicut or Anaikkarai is a dam and bridge built on the Kollidam (the northern tributary of

Kaveri River The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery, the anglicized name) is one of the major Indian rivers flowing through the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Kaveri river rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri range in the Western Ghats, Kodagu d ...

) in the Indian state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

. It was built in 1902 by the colonial administration of the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

for irrigating the erstwhile South Arcot district. Stones from the ruins of

Gangaikonda Cholapuram Gaṅgaikoṇḍa Chōḻapuram is a village located near to Jayankondam, Ariyalur district, Tamil Nadu, India. It became the capital of the Chola dynasty in c. 1025 by Chola emperor Rajendra I, and served as the capital for around 250 years. ...

were used to construct the dam. It is situated about 70 miles below the Upper Anaicut and 25 km from

Kumbakonam Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum) or Kudanthai is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the headquarters of the ...

. It has a shutter and sluice system that distributes the Kollidam water into various waterways. At Lower Anaicut, the Kollidam branches off into Manniar and Uppanai. Lower Anaicut is the terminal barrage across the Kaveri river system for sharing the river water per Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal. 10 tmcft water is allocated for the minimum environmental flows in the dowm stream of the Lower Anaicut. Another 4 tmcft is identified as unavoidable wastage to the sea from the Lower Anaicut/river basin. If Tamil Nadu is unable to use the available Kaveri waters and water over flows downstream of Lower Anaicut in excess of 14 tmcft, the excess water gone to sea is considered as part of the utilisable water under the share of Tamil Nadu per the Kaveri Water Dispute Tribunal.

References

{{Coord, 11, 8, 20, N, 79, 27, 6, E, type:landmark_region:IN, display=title, name=Lower Anaicut Dams in Tamil Nadu Kaveri River Dams completed in 1902 1902 establishments in British India