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Context

• A second flood warning for five southern districts has been issued after the water level in Vaigai dam touched 68.50 ft. (maximum permissible level 71 ft.) at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

About

• It spans the Vaigai River at Andipatti in Tamil Nadu's Theni district.
• It opened in 1959 and is known as the region's lifeblood.
• It stands 111 feet tall and can hold 71 feet of water.
• Its primary purpose was to deliver water for irrigation in the Madurai and Dindigul districts, as well as drinking water for Madurai and Andipatti.
• The Tamil Nadu government has built an Agricultural Research Station near the dam to study the cultivation of various crops.
• In close proximity to this dam lies a little garden known as Little Brindavan.

The following are some important facts regarding the Vaigai River

• It is a river in the state of Tamil Nadu.
• It gets its name from the Varushanad Hills in the Western Ghats.
• It passes across the Tamil Nadu area of Pandya Nadu.
• It is the main river of Madurai, the mythical city that served as the capital of the old and rich Pandya kingdom in southern Tamil Nadu.
• The river appears in Sangam literature dating back to 300 BC.
• It is 258 km long.
• The Periyar Dam in Kerala provides a significant amount of water to Vaigai.
• A tunnel under the Western Ghats diverts water from the Periyar River in Kerala to the Vaigai River in Tamil Nadu.
• Suruliyaru, Mullaiyaru, Varaganadhi, Manjalaru, Kottagudi, Kridhumaal, and Upparu are its primary tributaries.
• It eventually drains into the Palk Strait at the Pamban Bridge in the district of Ramanathapuram.
• The river supplies drinking water to five districts in Tamil Nadu: Theni, Madurai, Ramnathapuram, Sivagangai, and Dindigul.
• It also serves to irrigate 200,000 hectares of agricultural land.

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