TUTICORIN: The State Government should take measures on a war footing to implement comprehensive water resource management projects to augment irrigation, V Duraimanickam, State general secretary, Tamil Nadu Farmers Association, said.

Speaking to mediapersons here on Wednesday, he said inadequate number of water storage units such as irrigation tanks, dams, reservoirs, etc., prevented the authorities from effectively preserving water received during the recent heavy rain.

According to him, huge quantities of waterflowing into the sea during the period could have been stored and used for irrigation during summer.

"Compounding the woes of farmers, improper and inconsistent desilting of irrigation tanks had reduced the capabilities of the existing water storage structures," he noted.

Mr Duraimanickam accused the present State Government of showing too much interest in rainwater harvesting as "solutions" to water preservation.

Check dams

"They should have chalked out plans at a macro level by constructing huge tanks and check dams across the jungle streams instead, rather than restricting the attention to RWH units," he added.

Terming the sops offered under the CM's "Uzhavar Pathukappu Thittam" (Farmers Security Scheme) as a "technique to garner votes", he said the real beneficiaries so far were "those favoured by the AIADMK functionaries, not the farmers".

"The recent government decision to extend the maternity assistance under the scheme for any number of deliveries, would jeopardise the family planning programme in the country," he said.

The decision to extend relief to all household in flood-affected villages, without proper enumeration, was offered with an eye on Assembly election.

"Similarly, the interest waiver scheme was introduced without proper homework," he said.

He said it was absurd to ask farmers, reeling under drought during the last few years, to remit the principal amount borrowed from the banks within a short period to avail themselves of the interest waiver.

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