Announce Sir Arthur Cotton birth anniversary as irrigation day, demand Delta farmers

TIRUCHY: Delta farmers, who celebrated the birth anniversary of British irrigation engineer Sir Arthur Cotton on Monday, demanded the state government to declare his birth anniversary as irrigation day and celebrate it as a government event.

Lauded as Father of Indian Irrigation System, the British Engineer Sir Arthur Cotton was born on May 15, 1803. He came to India in 1821 and was appointed for studying the irrigation of the Cauvery scheme in 1829. When the flow of water was stopped due to deposit of soil in the Kallanai (Grand Anicut) he made an elaborate study of the engineering marvel of Kallanai constructed by Karikala Cholan and later removed the silt deposits and worked for the free flow of water. With the model of the Kallanai, he constructed Upper Anicut at Mukkombu in Tiruchy and Lower Anicut in Anaikarai thus putting his efforts to improve the irrigation system in the Delta region.

“In order to venerate the man who spearheaded the rejuvenation of Delta irrigation, we have paid floral tribute to the statue of Sir Arthur Cotton installed in the Kallanai,” said Swamimalai Sundara Vimalnathan, Secretary of Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Protection Association.

He said that Sir Arthur Cotton built a dam across Godavari Anicut at Malleshwaram in Andhra Pradesh through which 10 lakh acres have been irrigated. “In order to pay gratitude, the farmers there have erected his statue in all the villages. In a similar way, we need to celebrate the man who is behind the modern irrigation system in the Delta,” he said.

They demanded to establish a museum for Sir Arthur Cotton and celebrate his birth anniversary as irrigation day, which will take his legacy among younger generation, said Vimalnathan.