Ryots give thumbs down to water scheme

In a petition submitted to District Collector T N Hariharan, the state general secretary of Tamilaga Vivasayigal Sangam T Venugopal said the scheme was originally conceived to carry water from Pillur dam through canals.

“There is no need to even pump water into the canal as the dam is in a geographically upper region,” Venugopal said, adding that the water so carried would help to fill up at least 50 lakes and ponds in Karamadai region.

“However, the government has modified the plan to instead pump water from Kalingarayan canal through pipelines. As a result, thousands of farmers in the Karamadai region would be affected severely,” said Venugopal.

The petition urged the government to implement the ground water recharge scheme as per the original plan. The farmers also pointed out that the scheme doesn’t cover areas in Athikadavu region. “Areas like Gobi and Perundurai in Erode district, already covered under the lower Bhavani irrigation project, are included in the revised plan,” they said.

When the farmers raised the issue earlier, the government had promised to launch a separate water scheme to support farmers in Karamadai and Perianaickenpalayam areas. “Either the government should implement the original Avinashi-Athikadavu scheme or implement a separate scheme for Karamadai area,” said the farmers in their petition.

This demand comes in the wake of Governor Banwarilal Purohit announcing that a comprehensive Avinashi-Athikadavu scheme, aimed at recharging groundwater and augmenting water supply in Coimbatore, Erode and Tirupur districts, would be launched by the CM soon. The scheme estimated to cost Rs 1,652 crore is expected to benefit 24,468 acres under cultivation.