The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Wild growth keeps life oozing out of tanks

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 06, 2007
ePaper

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Wild growth keeps life oozing out of tanks

V. Venkatasubramanian

Farmers concerned at official apathy in maintaining irrigation waterbodies

Photo : A. Muralitharan

Shrinking waterbody: The Dhaamal Lake in Kancheepuram, which has lost its face owing to thorny bushes. —

KANCHEEPURAM: Wild growth on beds of irrigation tanks and gradual encroachment upon catchment areas of the tanks located in semi-urban areas is a cause of concern for the local people and farmers.

The farmers, for whom agricultural land holdings alone will be a permanent source of livelihood, are disturbed over the official apathy in maintaining irrigation tanks.

According to the farmers, allowing wild growth to cover nearly 75 per cent of water-holding area of the irrigation tanks would reduce the quantum of rainwater that could be stored.

It would also result in quick depletion of sub-soil water source that could be tapped in case of draught.

A farmer, who had taken up cultivation on his field at Thirumukkoodal near Pazhayaseevaram on the Kancheepuram-Chengalpattu Road after retirement from government service, said that obliteration of irrigation tanks either by allowing encroachment or by allowing formation of firewood grove on the tank beds would slowly squeeze life out of agricultural operations.

The allotment of government ‘poromboke’ lands located in the catchment areas of the irrigation tanks for setting up industrial units was more worrying, he added.

Expressing a similar opinion, a panchayat president in the Oragadam area claimed that setting up industries in catchment areas under special industrial promotion schemes did not assure benefits to the local bodies.

On condition of anonymity, he said that income of the local bodies through taxes and other charges was all set to remain the same in view of tax holiday and other sops extended to such industries under the special scheme.

As regards the maintenance of the irrigation tanks, he said the local bodies could not take up such work on their own as a majority of the tanks in the district came either under the control of the Public Works Department or the Revenue Department.

The financial position of local bodies prevented them from taking up the works.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu