No new mega irrigation scheme has been implemented on the course of the Cauvery in the past 50 years and it was high time the Central and State governments drafted big schemes to harness the benefits of the river, speakers said at a workshop organised by the Association of Retired Senior Engineers of the PWD here on Saturday.
Speaking at the seminar on retrieving the rights over the Cauvery, retired PWD engineers observed that while Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and other States were implementing mega irrigation projects in rivers in their domains, there has been no major mega project in Tamil Nadu over the past half a century.
It was high time that the Central and State governments drafted and implemented mega irrigation projects at a cost of Rs. one lakh crore over the next five years to tap the full benefits of the river systems.
In particular, projects to harness the 260 tmc ft of water that drains into the sea through the rivers flowing in the State during the monsoon period need to be thought of with top priority.
Cleaning of reservoirs
For that barrages and check dams must be constructed in the course of the rivers.
Besides, reservoirs and dams need to be cleared of the accumulated silt at the earliest and projects have to be implemented for ensuring that, speakers noted at the workshop.
Other resolutions adopted at the meet included declaring Cauvery delta as protected agriculture zone, granting solatium of Rs. 25 lakh to the next of kin of those farmers who died of shock over crop failure and grant of Rs. 25,000 to each agricultural worker in the region, urging the Central and State governments to constitute the Cauvery Management Board and Cauvery Water Monitoring Committee without involving the Parliament on the lines of Krishna-Godavari Management Board and Narmada Management Board.
Association State secretary Veerappan presided over the meeting in which Anti-Methane Project Movement coordinator Prof. T. Jayaraman, Tamilaga Vivaasayigal Sangam district president Manimozhiyan, Cauvery Farmers Protection Association State general secretary V. Dhanapalan, district president Swamimalai S. Vimalnathan, Tamil Desiya Movement president P. Maiyarasan and others spoke.
