The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Karur farmers upset

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Sunday, Sep 14, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Karur farmers upset

L. Renganathan

Over untimely renovation of channels

Sand mining causes more hardship
Need for planning to carry out maintenance works

KARUR: Untimely undertaking of renovation and reconstruction works of sluices and shutters in channels irrigated by the Amaravathy river in Karur district has left farmers high and dry. Though water is flowing down the river, they are not in a position to utilise the release.

Farmers especially in the tail-end of the aycut have been demanding water for saving their crops such as banana, paddy and sugar cane that have been raised in the fields there.

But usually the authorities release water for Karur district farmers only when the reservoir surpluses. Following persistent demand from the farmers whose fields are irrigated by the Amaravathy in Karur, Erode and Coimbatore districts, Amaravathy reservoir near Udamalpet was opened for irrigation in the first week of September.

While around 1,500 cusecs is being discharged from the dam, here in Karur district a turn system has been enforced for irrigating all areas served by the river and its channels.

That is because of the frugal availability of water at the end of the aycut as many farmers suck out water through illegal pumping of water and excess pumping by registered schemes. District farmers have been seeking the intervention of the authorities to put an end to the illegal pumping menace for several years now but to no avail.One another aspect that works against the farmers in the aycut irrigated by supply channels branching off the main river is sand mining that is being carried out in a large scale along the course of the river. Due to persistent sand mining while the main course of the river is deepened, the branching channels naturally gain height making heading up operations difficult when the realization or flow is meagre. Usually the period between June and January is the water release season in the Amaravathy.

February to May has always been allotted for taking up maintenance works in the river and its channels. But this time around the authorities have taken up maintenance works during the current period, putting the farmers to trouble during a crucial phase of cultivation by choking the water supply in several areas. Farmers had planned to raise paddy in over 3,000 acres in the aycut expecting release and timely realization of water in the river. “Renovation works such as repairing shutters, sluices construction of culverts and small bridges besides desilting has been taken up during the crucial period. At least one such work is being done at any time.

When we asked the officials they reply that only now the government has sanctioned funds and that they could undertake the works during the particular period. That is the reason we are not getting water,” points out Pallapalayam Raja Vaikkal Aycutdars Association president K. Palanisamy.

In future, it would be better if officials concerned with water supply and maintenance sit with farmers and aycutdars and draw a proper schedule of maintenance for averting situations such as the current one, he adds.

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