Residents of nearly eight to nine villages, along with Palar Protection Awareness Movement, collected nearly 1,000 signatures and submitted a petition to the district administration seeking to construct a check dam across Palar river at Virinchipuram to divert water to three water bodies.
S.N.C. Marthandan, organiser of Palar Protection Awareness Movement, said they submitted the petition containing the signatures from residents of villages including Sadupperi, Melmonavur, Kilmonavur, Karugambathur and Sembedu to Collector S.A. Raman on Monday.
A committee comprising villagers was formed to press the need to construct a check dam, he said.
“A check dam should be constructed across Palar river at Virinchipuram so that water is diverted to Sadupperi, Periya Eri and Kadaperi. There is a channel that leads from Palar to these water bodies. A dam for at least five to 10 feet high should be constructed before November,” Mr. Marthandan said.
He added that as of now, the riverbed was lower than the channels due to indiscriminate sand mining. This prevented flow of water to the channels.
The villagers also demanded that the sluices of the channel should be repaired, and the channel should be desilted. “There are plenty of ‘seemai karuvelam’ trees that have grown in the area. The trees should be removed,” he said.
