Pilot project helps farm wells in Vellore village

The pilot project, taken up at a cost of Rs 2.80 crore, was initially carried out by a private concern at the Salamanatham village. It involved the construction of boulder check dams, in which the boulders are tightly packed and held together with metal fencing wire. This allowed water to seep through to the nearby 20 feet deep recharge wells.

“When filled, the wells enable water to percolate in the surrounding areas to up to 500 metres,” said Kaniyambadi PU commissioner D Tirumal. The success of the project has enabled farmers in the village to change their cropping pattern. 

“The rise in water levels has led them to now switch over to the water intensive crops such as paddy and banana from turmeric they were sowing earlier,” Vellore collector SA Raman told DT Next.

“Though Public Works Department and TN Water Supply and Drainage Board have attested to the project’s success, we have sought VIT University’s help to conduct a water audit,” Raman said. 

Local farmer, Mani (64) said, “Last year, we had to rely solely on turmeric as we lacked water for either paddy or banana. But this year, rise in water levels have helped us plant banana and paddy.” Elumalai (60) another farmer said, “Though there was copious rainfall this year, we have never seen such water level increase.” “Following the project’s success, the district administration plans to expand the project to other PUs, as only three of the 20 PUs have a comfortable water position,” Raman stated. 

Significantly, district officials said the state government is also toying with the idea of replicating the project in other parts of the state. The project has also ensured Rs 205 payment per head for 23 women for each check dam constructed through MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) as a dam is built in 10 days, they added.