PALAKKAD: The technical advisory committee of the Central Water Commission has approved a Rs 30 crore scheme for the extension and modernisation of the Kanhirapuzha irrigation canal. The project had been included under the Prime Ministers' agriculture package for drought-hit areas. The State Government has also accorded the financial concurrence so that the Rs 30 crore modernisation scheme secures the investment clearance of the Planning Commission. Once this extension and modernisation is completed, the waters from the canal would be able to irrigate 9,713 hectares of land as originally envisaged under the scheme. Currently only 8,467 hectares of area is being irrigated by the canal. Once the modernisation scheme is completed, an additional 1,247 hectares of land would also be irrigated. The Kanhirapuzha irrigation project was begun in 1961 and runs through the taluks of Palakkad, Ottapalam and Mannarkad. It was in 1980 that the Kanhirapuzha irrigation project was partially commissioned. The dam utilises the water of the Kanhirapuzha, an important tributary of the Bharathapuzha. The dam has a length of 2,128 metres. The left bank canal runs over a distance of 61.71 km and irrigates 8,188 hectares. The right bank canal flows 9.36 km and irrigates 1,525 hectares of land. There is also a garden within the dam area, similar to the one in Malampuzha which attracts tourists.