TIRUCHY: Thanjavur residents commenced the revival of the 642-acre Sengazhunir lake at Kallaperambur through crowdfunding on Thursday, and the lake could store at least 1.50 TMC water, which would irrigate around 10 villages in the district.
The Chola era irrigation lake, which is located between Thanjavur and Budalur, through which more than 10 villages, including Kallaperambur, Rayanthur, Thennangudi, Pillayarnatham, Seeralur, and Sakkarasamantharam, were irrigated. The Sengazhunir lake played a main role in irrigating these villages, through which 3,000 acres were directly irrigated, and 2,000 acres of land were indirectly irrigated by storing at least 1.50 TMC water.
However, in due course of time, the lake was abandoned, and heavy silt formed in the waterbody, which failed to store water and the 642-acre vast lake had shrunk to 200 acres due to encroachments and a thick blanket of vegetation and karuvelam trees.
In order to revive the major water body, the farmers from the villages founded Sengazhunir Lake Ayacutdars Welfare Association in 2018 and initiated steps to revive the lake. Initially, they could strengthen the retaining walls of the lake to a distance of 10 km, but they could not go ahead with the revival work due to various reasons, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the farmers who were frustrated after they were unable to commence kuruvai cultivation due to water shortage this year, planned to resume the revival of the lake, and thus they commenced a ‘one person donate one litre diesel’ campaign among the residents. Their ultimate aim was to revive the entire lake and ensure public utility.
Accordingly, they decided to crowdfund for the purpose and approached the elected members, and the Thanjavur MP S Murasoli donated Rs one lakh, while Thanjavur TVK MLA R Saravanan donated Rs 50,000, and the works commenced on Thursday.
“This is an ancient lake, and the Chola kings, who were noted for public welfare and prompt irrigation, had made this lake, which was once a main source of water for the part of Thanjavur. Due to negligence, it lost its sheen, and later it was left abandoned. Since Thanjavur district is struggling for water for irrigation purposes, we decided on reviving the Sengazhunir lake,” said K Ravichandran, Coordinator of the Sengazhunir Lake Ayacutdars Welfare Association.
He also said that initially, they were planning to strengthen the retaining walls of the lake and remove the karuvelam trees grown in the lake. “Several persons, including the elected members, have donated to the cause, and more people have promised further funding support. Once the revival work gets completed, it would certainly store at least 1.50 TMC water, which would be beneficial for irrigation and support recharging the groundwater in the area,” Ravichandran added.