With a major part of the district reeling under severe drought conditions, Tiruchi taluk is witnessing over-stress on groundwater table in banana cultivation belts.
A case in point is a cluster of villages in and around Tiruvalarcholai, Panayapuram, Kondaiyampettai, Mela Uthamarseeli and the Tiruchi-Kumbakonam highway. The entire area is noted for banana cultivation.
A fortnight ago, farmers raised ‘elarasi’ and ‘nendran’ varieties of the crop. “With an assured market, we opted for this variety,” they say.
The crop needs adequate irrigation, especially during the initial period. “Although I was drawing water to irrigate an acre of banana, only half the area could be irrigated despite continued supply for about five hours. Evaporational loss is one of the major drawbacks hindering the flow throughout the fields,” a farmer points out.
Officials concede that there has been over-exploitation of groundwater in certain villages in and around Tiruchi. Hence, they advised farmers to opt for irrigation through pipes to avoid evaporational loss. “Since it involves additonal expenditure, many farmers did not comply,” an official told The Hindu on Wednesday.
A study conducted by the Groundwater Estimation Committee on use of groundwater by farmers classified each block as ‘safe’, ‘semi critical’, ‘critical’ and ‘over-exploitation’. Banks have been advised not to sanction loans for deepening the existing wells in ‘critical’ and ‘over-exploitation’ blocks, the source said.
Safe blocks
Andanallur, Pullambadi and Tiruverumbur, have been classified as ‘safe’ blocks, while Lalgudi and Marungapuri as semi-critical. Nine blocks — Manaparrai, Musiri, Thathaiengarpet, Thuraiyur, Uppiliyapuram, Manikandam, Thottiam, Vaiyampatti, Manachanallur — have been classfied as ‘over-exploited zones’. There is, however, no ‘critical’ block.
Safe blocks have used water less than 70%,; semi-critical between 70% and 90%, and over-exploitation more than 100% of the available water.
