The Kurichi check dam across the Noyyal river in Coimbatore city will be inspected by state archaeology department officials after allegations that a historical structure was damaged during desilting work by the NGO Siruthuli.
District archaeology officials said the inspection will be conducted jointly with the Water Resources Department and local body officials. The date has not yet been finalised. The teams are expected to document the structure and examine stones that officials have identified as part of a historical construction.
The proposed inspection follows a representation by R Manikandan, founder of Kovai Kulangal Padhukappu Amaippu, to the state archaeology department. Manikandan also wrote to the district administration seeking restoration of the damaged structure and its declaration as a historical site.
A district archaeology department official said the department was examining documents and references connected to inscriptions found on the structures. The official said the damaged stones had been identified as historical structures, but their possible link to the Kolur dam of the Chola dynasty was still being analysed.
The official added that declaring the check dam a historical monument would not be possible in the usual manner while it remained in public use. If the structure were inactive, it could be secured with fencing, the official said. The proposed joint inspection is intended to establish the structure’s condition and document the available evidence before further decisions are taken.
The dispute has brought attention to the difficulty of managing working water infrastructure that may also contain archaeological or historical remains. The Kurichi check dam is located on the Noyyal river within the city, where waterbody desilting and restoration activities are carried out alongside existing civic and water-management functions.
Manikandan said inspection alone should not end the department’s involvement and called for restoration of the damaged structure. He said documenting and, where possible, declaring the historic status of check dams, channels and waterbodies would alert organisations working on them to their significance.
He also said historical names should be retained or restored where appropriate. According to Manikandan, the Indian Council of Historical Research has documented evidence and topographical references related to the Kolur dam that overlap with the present Kurichi check dam. The archaeology department is analysing those references, and no final determination on the structure’s historical identity has been announced.
The next formal step is the combined inspection by the archaeology department, the Water Resources Department and local body officials. Its date, findings and any decision on restoration or protection remain pending.
