COIMBATORE: Minister for Housing and Urban Development S Muthusamy on Friday said issues in the Athikadavu-Avinashi Ground Water Recharge and Drinking Water Supply Scheme will be resolved soon.
He acknowledged issues in water reaching 71 lakes out of the total 1,045 due to repairs in their pipelines, but added that efforts will be taken to set right these issues in 15 days. “However, the scheme could be implemented, only if the water flow in Bhavani River is over 250 cusecs. So far, 101 lakes have been filled up,” he said to the media in Erode.
Further, the minister said 0.633 tmc of water has been released under the scheme till now. “Our main objective is to ensure water reaches all the 1,045 water bodies covered under this project. The demand for including more water bodies under the scheme will be considered if there are any tanks near the already existing water body benefitted by the project,” he added.
The groundwater recharge scheme is touted to irrigate 24,468 acres of farmland spread across Erode, Tirupur and Coimbatore districts. It is expected to replenish 1,045 water bodies including lakes and ponds by pumping 1.5 thousand million cubic feet of water from the Bhavani River.