TOURISM

NEYYAR & ARUVIKKARA DAM

Neyyar dam is a gravity dam on the Neyyar River in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala, South India, located on the foot of the Western Ghats about 30 km from Thiruvananthapuram. It was established in 1958 and is a popular picnic spot. Neyyar 2nd State (relates to both Madras and Kerala States) Government of Kerala started work on the project in their area in October 1956.

The Neyyar Dam is a rubble masonry gravity-type dam with a height of 56 m (184 ft) and length of 295 m (968 ft). Its structural volume is 105,000 m3 (3,708,040 cu ft). The dam creates a reservoir of 106,200,000 m3 (86,098 acre⋅ft) of which 101,000,000 m3 (81,882 acre⋅ft) is active (useful) capacity. The reservoir's surface area is 91 km2 (35 sq mi) and the dam's spillway has an 809.40 m3/s (28,584 cu ft/s) maximum discharge capacity.[3] One of the contractors who built the Neyyar Dam was Mr Jagathy Chellappan Contractor of Jagathy, Trivandrum.Neyyar Dam is home to the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Dhanwanthari Ashram where people can take courses in yoga and practice meditation. The trees that are growing inside the ashram are large due to care by the people.Tourists can hire a speed boat for Rs 250 per head to view the surrounding forests.A crocodile farm was set up in 1977. It also includes a habitat for otters near the administrative complex. The Crocodile Rehabilitation and Research Centre in Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary was named initially by the Kerala government after the late naturalist Steve Irwin as Steve Irwin National Park.

Aruvikkara Dam is located in Aruvikkara in Thiruvananthapuram District, Kerala. This Gravity and Masonry dam was built across the Karamana River and was completed in 1972 is used for irrigation and supplying drinking water to the city of Thiruvananthapuram. The Aruvikkara dam project came up in the 1930s and has been supported by the Peppara dam built in 1983.[3] The height of the dam is 14.01 meters (45.96 ft) and the length is 83.21 meters (273 ft).[4] The Aruvikkara Dam meets the irrigation needs of Thiruvananthapuram.[5] The reservoir is also one of the water tourism sites in Kerala.

The Aruvikkara Dam was built to provide a supply of piped water to the city. The Trivandrum Water Works was founded in 1933 and named after Lord Willingdon, the Viceroy and Governor-General of India; the company has been responsible for supply and distribution of water from the Karamana River ever since.[9] Water is pumped from the Aruvikkara reservoir after treatment to the observatory tank which is in a highest plane in the city. This together with a new plant supplies water to the central zone of the city. Another new plant with its overhead tank in Peroorkada supplies water to the elevated areas of the city such as Peroorkada, Ulloor and Medical College.

Recently a bottling plant was established on the shores of the Aruvikkara dam utilizing water from the Reservoir. This project is from Kerala Irrigation Infrastructure development corporation ltd. (KIIDC) After different stages of water filtration and treatments the water is bottled for consumption.