Urging the district administration to extend the water release in the Lower Bhavani Project (LBP) canal by another 10 days and release additional two tmc water, members of various farmers association staged a demonstration at Veerappanchatiram here on Monday.
Led by E.R. Kumarasamy, district president, Tamil Nadu Farmers Association, farmers said that the current water release of 1.4 tmc from April 27 to May 9 to 1.03 lakh acres in the odd turn sluices is not benefitting the farmers as the water is yet to reach the tail-end farmers. They said that water was not released from the Bhavanisagar Dam to the LBP canal for the past two years in the ayacut and farmers continue to suffer.
Currently, six tmc water is available at the dam while the current storage at the Kundah Hydro Reservoirs and other reservoirs in the Nilgiris is about nine tmc. They said that after power generation in these reservoirs, water is let out to the dam and hence the storage level will also improve. “If the current water release is intended to benefit farmers, the district administration should extend the water release by further 10 days and release two tmc additionally”, they added.
Farmers said that only the additional water will help in recharging the ground water level in these areas that will help the wells and borewells to get water. Also, cattle and standing coconut trees could be saved with the water.
