TIRUCHY: As the desilting work has been progressing slower than the usual pace, the Delta farmers are sceptical whether it would be completed ahead of the release of water from Mettur on June 12.
The farmers said, as of now, only 40 to 50 per cent of the work has been completed so far.
“The officials are more concerned with satisfying the politicians, and so they give priority to the waterbodies identified by the people with political backgrounds. The officials are also particular to desilt only the A and B channels and never care about the C, D, E, F and G channels, citing fund scarcity,” said Eraharam Swaminathan, president, Pazhavaru Ayakattar Association, Thanjavur.
Swaminathan said that several channels are going unattended across the Delta region.
“For instance, the Kandagarayam canal that flows in Thanjavur has not been desilted for the past five years. It is a ‘B’ channel and has been irrigating around 1,500 acres of land,” Swaminathan said.
He further stated that the farmers are forced to stage a protest for the quick completion of the desilting works.
“The voices of politically strong people are heard, but the poor farmers' pleas go unanswered,” he said.
While AKR Ravichander, farmer from Ammaiyagaram in Thanjavur said, the desilt works are under way in as many as 292 places in Thanjavur but before the completion of the works, the officials release the funds to the contractors who are mostly from strong political background and this results into a hasty work leading to poor desilt programmes.
“The officials should release a white paper on the execution of the desilt programme,” Ravichander stressed.