105-yr-old man who helped build Mettur Dam lives in poverty

His contributions were not duly recognised by the state government ‘as the centenarian had worked for British and not under the Indian government.’ Kannappan was one among the thousands of people recruited by the British engineers to raise the dam. “It was a time, when farmers could not carry out farming activities due to frequent droughts in Tamil Nadu. To bail out the farmers from water woes, the British conceived the plan to build a dam to store water flowing down the Cauvery river. As the dam took shape, the lives of farmers changed once and for all. But I am still struggling to make ends meet, as I was denied pension and other job benefits,” he said.

Age has shrunk him, wrinkled his face, and even limited his hearing and physical movement, but his thoughts on building the dam are still etched clearly in his memory. Claiming to be the sole surviving person involved in construction of the dam, Kannappan fondly recollects his past. “I supervised the electrical works done in the dam as designed by British engineer Ellis. Built in 1934, I was into the project from the beginning of construction. I even received a certificate of appreciation from Ellis, in recognition of my contribution,” he said.

The Mettur dam, also known as the Stanley Reservoir, designed by British Engineer Ellis irrigates about six lakh hectares of land in the districts of Salem, Namakkal, Karur, Tiruchi, Pudukkottai, and Thanjavur.

After selling his own house a few decades ago, Kannappan is now living in a modest house, taken on rent, along with his second wife Dhanam. He married her following the demise of his first wife Saraswathi Bai in 1971. “We petitioned both the DMK and the AIADMK governments when they were in power, but to no avail. Our family has completely lost hope that the state government will come to our rescue anymore,” said Dhanam. The elderly couple has been dependent on their sons and daughters for their livelihood, but they too have grown old. His struggles apart, it was a special day for Kannappan on Tuesday, as his entire family of around 30 members, descended on his house to greet him on his birth day.