The Hindu : Front Page : Move to prevent pollution of Pugalur Channel

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Thursday, Nov 30, 2006
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Move to prevent pollution of Pugalur Channel

L. Renganathan

Government sanctions construction of an inverted siphon system

KARUR: Decades-old prayer of Karur farmers for a permanent mechanism to prevent pollution of the Pugalur Channel by the Noyyal river has been answered with the State Government sanctioning construction of an inverted siphon system at an estimated cost of Rs. 80 lakh.

The Government Order with regard to the construction of the inverted siphon system was issued on November 23, bringing relief to thousands of ayacutdars of Pugalur Channel that irrigates roughly over 20,000 acres, where sugarcane, betel vine, korai (reed grass) and to a small extant paddy and banana are raised.

The Pugalur Channel is about 21 miles long, irrigating areas from Noyyal to Sevanthipalayam in Karur district. The Popular Mudaliar Channel and Palla Vaikkal branch off the Pugalur Channel while the excess water is drained into the Nerur and Vangal channels. The effluent-mixed polluted waters from the Orathupalayam reservoir flowing down the Noyyal river had been polluting the Pugalur Channel, which "falls in'' the river at its sixth mile to cross the river Noyyal.

The polluted water from the Noyyal entered the Pugalur Channel polluting its very fertile ayacut over the past 30 years, ever since the Tirupur export units started dumping effluent-mixed water in the Noyyal. The farmers in Karur have been demanding since then for a permanent mechanism to prevent pollution.

In between, the Karur district administration twice sanctioned funds to construct temporary means such as laying tunnel pipes across the breadth of the Noyyal and the pipes were laid.

But heavy flow down the river left in disarray the pipes meant to convey pure water across the river at Noyyal village at the confluence of the rivers the Noyyal and the Cauvery.

Demand by farmers, promises by almost all sections of the political establishment and committed espousal of the farmers' cause by the officials of the Public Works Department have now cleared the path for the construction of the inverted siphon system at a cost of Rs. 80 lakh.

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