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Lack of community aid rings knell for Rs 2,000-cr project
Repair and rejuvenate tanks and lakes, and migrate to modern agriculture practises that would require lesser water. On paper, it appears to be a simple but an effective plan to address the perennial shortage of water, while also helping thousands who are dependent on farming for livelihood.
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migrator
migrator
Chennai
However, even as the World Bank funded project has entered the second phase, covering 66 sub-basins across Tamil Nadu, with an estimated expense of nearly Rs 2,000 crore, the waterbodies in Chennai sub-basins where eco-restoration works were carried out in the first phase are in shambles.
When it was first rolled out in 2003, the project was originally entitled Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernisation and Waterbodies Restoration and Management (TNIAMWARM). In the later years, it was renamed as Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernisation Project (TNIAMP).
This is a multi-sectoral project, with the participation of eight state government departments, including the Water Resources Department (WRD), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Department of Agriculture, Department of Horticulture and Plantation Crops, and Department of Agricultural Marketing and Plantation Crops among others.
Currently in phase II, the project has work ongoing at 4,800 irrigation tanks and 471 anicuts that fall under 66 sub-basins at an estimated cost of Rs 1,920 crore. In Chennai region alone, 53 packages are being carried out at a cost of Rs 238 crore. “The works that are carried out as part of the project include desilting of channels, strengthening of bunds, and maintenance of sluices,” said a top official of WRD.
Scepticism abounds
While the idea is promising, there is scepticism, especially because of the outcome at Cooum and Adyar sub-basins where eco-restoration works were carried out between 2011-15 at a cost of Rs 200. Under this, 18,452.89 hectares in Villivakkam, Poonamallee and Kadambathur blocks of Tiruvallur district, and Sriperumpudur, Kattankulathur, St Thomas Mount and Kundrathur blocks of Kancheepuram district were taken up.
The present state of two tanks in Nemam village in Poonamallee that comes under Cooum sub-basin, which were restored about three years ago, is perhaps a perfect example of a well-meaning plan going off the rails.
“Our village has four tanks. But the PWD carried out works only in two waterbodies under the project. They removed the sand from the tanks completely. They should have left behind some sand to maintain their storage capability. The water would have at least been stored in that case. Now, even after a heavy spell of rain, the water drains out of the channel continuously. The two waterbodies are currently in a state of disuse, without benefiting the farmer community,” said Kumar, a man from the neighbourhood.
Local community not a stakeholder
According to sources familiar with the way in which the project, there were many reasons for the project to face hurdles in the last stage. “Various reasons hampered it, including ineffective fund mobilisation and assistant engineers of WRD working on various projects that were running at the same time. Also, there was poor community participation and the government departments were unwilling to hand over the responsibilities to the community associations,” said an official.
The last aspect was the most crucial component in ensuring that the tanks remained in good health. At the heart of the project was a plan to get the local community involved to maintain the waterbodies. For this, the plan was to hand over the responsibilities to ‘water users association’ after the works concluded. But that did not happen as planned, which seems to sounded the knell for the ambitious plans. “The associations ended up being rubber stamps and eventually lost the interest,” the source added.
According to professor R Manimaran, the head of Krishi Vigyan Kendra and in-charge of Cooum sub-basin, the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University had provided farming communities in these basins inputs – seeds and technology. At an estimated cost of Rs 75 lakh, the farmers were given inputs, and were trained in water budgeting and methods like System of Rice Intensification (SRI).
However, the Kendra’s efforts were limited to imparting training to the farmers, teaching them how to carry out mechanised farming and emphasise greater use of green manure instead of fertilisers and pesticides, he said.
“During the project, the team from the World Bank visited the site once in three months. The district collectors reviewed the project at the various stages. But the beneficiaries were unwilling to cooperate and take forward the good deeds,” Manimaran said.
Another official from the WRD said though the project did not achieve a desired result in the Chennai region, it had registered a resounding success in the southern districts. “The farming communities helped to make it a roaring success there,” said the official.
Project Details
- Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernisation and Waterbodies Restoration and Management (TNIAMWARM) was rolled out in 2003. It was later rechristened as Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernisation Project (TNIAMP)
- Eight government departments and agencies, including the Water Resources Department (WRD), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Department of Agriculture, Department of Horticulture and Plantation Crops, and Department of Agricultural Marketing are a part of the project
- Works include desilting of channels, strengthening of bunds, and maintenance of sluices
- In phase II, work is ongoing at 4,800 irrigation tanks and 471 anicuts that fall under 66 sub-basins at an estimated cost of Rs 1,920 crore
- In Chennai region, 53 packages are being carried out at a cost of Rs 238 cr
- Araniyar, Kosasthaliyar, Cooum and Adyar are the Chennai basin group of rivers
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