Civic chiefs petition CM to renovate lift irrigation system

TIRUCHY: The presidents from five village panchayats handed over a petition to Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday to revive the 53-year-old lift irrigation system that was introduced by the late chief minister M Karunanidhi through which over 10,000 acre land got irrigated in their localities.

When CM Stalin was returning to Tiruchy after a function in Tiruvarur, he stopped at Thanjavur and interacted with the party cadre and received petitions from the public. Among them, five panchayat presidents led by Okkanadu Keezhaiyur panchayat president Suresh, submitted a petition to revive the lift irrigation system in their region.

According to Suresh, Kannaru, which originates from Vaduvoor lake in Tiruvarur flows around a 34 km stretch and mixes with Pamini river at Puliyangudi village and the Kannaru irrigates an area of 8,241 acre land.

This apart, a lift irrigation system that was established on September 17, 1969, by the then chief minister M Karunanidhi at Okkanadu Keezhaiyur near Orathanadu was beneficial to the farmers from Okkanadu Keezhaiyur, Kavarapattu, Karuvizhikadu, Ovelkudi, Keezhavannipattu and Karuvakurichy villages. The petition stated that there are six 110 hp motors that have been operational for more than 50 years. Due to the poor maintenance, the motors sustain technical snags quite often and so the system fails to serve the purpose. Since they are rain-fed areas, the non-operational irrigation system due to technical issues lead to poor water resources for irrigating the standing crops.

They sought a proper allocation of funds for the repair and upgradation of the motors and ensure continuous operation.