Southern States - Kerala   

Water resources in Palakkad being filled up

By Our Staff Reporter

PALAKKAD OCT. 18. A number of big ponds and wells in this drought-prone district are being filled up violating Government orders even as the Government agencies are busy chalking out water conservation schemes.

Three ponds at Tharekkad, Vettilakkulam and Gaudar Junction near the Revenue Divisional Office in the town are currently being filled up in violation of various national and State policies as well as an order of the District Collector on August 11 prohibiting reclamation of tanks and wells.

It is alleged that officials were flouting the order and giving possession certificates for tanks and wells, which are either community-owned or by temples.

Under the `Jala Nidhi' scheme, a project for renovating existing public and private tanks by the National Water Technology Mission launched in 1990, the Government had identified 686 big ponds in the district.

The Ottappalam taluk has the maximum number of 258 ponds, followed by Chittur (221 tanks), Alathur (103 tanks), Mannarkad (66) and the Palakkad taluk (40).

Of them 50 ponds identified for conservation has an area of one to two hectares. About 165 have an area of 0.50 to 1 hectares. Nearly 418 are public tanks and 270 private.

During 1993-94 25 tanks were preserved under the Jala Nidhi scheme. Gradually the programme got slowed down. Since then only 100 ponds were conserved under the scheme, according to officials.

The tanks renovated under the scheme like the Shekharipuram pond in the town and Chittadikulam in the Chittur taluk have become major water storage systems.

The National Farmers Protection Committee (NFPC) has said that the farmers are prepared to conserve some of the ponds if the authorities permitted them to do so.

If the existing public and private tanks in the district were conserved it would help in reducing the acute drinking and irrigation water problems to a great extent, it said.

Meanwhile, the Bharathapuzha Protection Committee today demanded the District Collector to stop the filling up of these water storage systems and take immediate steps to conserve them.

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