River(Impounds): Sholaiyar river
Location: Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu
Opening: 1971
Height: 105 M
Length: 1244 M
HISTORY:
Upper Solaiyar or Upper Sholayar Dam (சோழையார் Shozhaiyaar) is situated 20 km (12 mi) from Valparai, a hill station in the Anaimalai Hills of the Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu India. A part of the hydroelectric project of Tamil Nadu, special permission is required to visit the dam.Valparai is located 64 km (40 mi) from Pollachi and 55 km (34 mi) from Chalakudy, Kerala. The nearest railway station is Chalakkudy.
The Solaiyar dam is a vital reservoir under the Parambikulam Aliyar Project and has a water storage capacity of 160 ft (49 m). The reservoir’s overflowing waters are let into the Parambikulam Reservoir through the saddle dam. It is constructed by a team who was working under K Palanisamy, the most popular engineer in that area.Sholayar Dam is built in ss, Sholayar Flanking in 1964 and Sholayar Saddle Dam in 1965. The reservoir has an area of 8.705 square km and the length of the dam is 430.60 metres. The Sholayar Dam has a height of 66 metres and 430 metres width, Sholayar Flanking has a height of 28 metres and 19 metres width and Sholayar Saddle has a height of 259 metres and 109 metres width.