The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Paper unit sinks 4 wells with permit for only one

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Monday, Jan 12, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Paper unit sinks 4 wells with permit for only one

P. Sudhakar

Unauthorised wells will be demolished, say Public Works Department authorities

TIRUNELVELI: Sinking of four unauthorised infiltration wells by a private paper manufacturing unit in the Tamiraparani river off Kodaganallur in the district has triggered controversy as the company has obtained permission from the Public Works Department (PWD) for the construction of only one well.

The PWD’s decision to give permission for drawing 6,210 KL water a day (6.21 lakh litres of water) from Tamiraparani to the paper mill had created a storm at the farmers’ grievance day meeting in last November when the agriculturists appealed to the district administration to cancel the order. Farmers and members of Kodagan Channel and Kallur Water Users’ Association also submitted a petition in this connection.

The petitioners said that after the government gave permission to the company to draw 6,210 KL water a day, huge infiltration wells were sunk in the river, where the local bodies had already dug a good number of wells to supply drinking water to various areas, including Nanguneri, Radhapuram, Valliyoor, Thisaiyanvilai, under combined drinking water schemes.

The wells dug by the paper manufacturing unit would badly affect supply of drinking water to the public besides denying the farmers water for irrigation, particularly during summer, they alleged.

Meanwhile, the district committee member of Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist), Tirunelveli, T. Rajamanickam, obtained a reply from the PWD officials on his queries relating to the permission given to the company for drawing Tamiraparani water for its unit through the RTI (Right To Information Act) channel.

In his reply, Executive Engineer, Public Works Department – Water Resources Organisation, Tamiraparani Basin, Tirunelveli, M. Nagarajan, said that the department had given permission on May 5, 2008, for sinking an infiltration well to take water from Tamiraparani to their manufacturing unit.

However, the mill, without getting proper permission from the PWD, sank four more infiltration wells, taking the total number of wells to five. Hence necessary instructions had been given to the company to remove the wells immediately.

“Demolition of the unauthorised wells is going on and it will be completed once water level in the river recedes during summer,” Mr. Nagarajan has stated in the reply.

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