TIRUCHY: Farmers celebrated the birth anniversary of Sir Arthur Cotton, the British Army Officer and Irrigation Engineer who built Upper Anicut (Mukkombu), Lower Anicut (Anaikarai) and refurbished the Grand Anicut (Kallanai) constructed by the King Raja Raja Cholan on Friday and demanded his birthday as Water Irrigation Management Day.
The farmers, led by the Tamilaga Vivasayigal Sangam State treasurer Aiylai Siva Suriyan, gathered at Mukkombu in view of the 223rd birth anniversary of the British Irrigation Engineer Sir Arthur Cotton and garlanded the statue of the officer at Mukkombu. They said that Sir Arthur Cotton is venerated as the Father of Water Irrigation, through whom the entire Delta region gets proper water for irrigation. He had constructed the Mukkombu regulator, which splits the Cauvery into the Cauvery and the Kollidam, which supports the irrigation for the delta farmers till today.
Sir Arthur Cotton was the person who wondered about the Kallanai dam constructed by Raja Raja Cholan and named it as ‘Grand Anicut’, the farmers said.
The farmers who garlanded the statue distributed sweets to the public as part of the celebration and demanded that the state government declare the birthday of Sir Arthur Cotton as the Water Irrigation Management Day.
A similar celebration was held at Neelathanallur in Kollidam riverbank by the farmers.