The Athikadavu-Avinashi Flood Flow Canal Scheme was among the demands submitted to the Prime Minister by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister recently.
Welcoming the effort, activists who have been demanding implementation of the scheme said, “We will believe any words and sincerity in the efforts only when the scheme is implemented. Such requests have been given in the past too by the successive State Governments. But nothing materialised due to lack of proper follow-up.”
Project report
Unless a proper detailed project report gets prepared and funds allocated, there is no guarantee of the project works beginning in the near future”, said M. Velusamy, convener of the Athikadavu-Avinashi scheme struggle committee, which organised a fast protest prior to elections, and T. Sathyamoorthy, a lawyer-cum-activist, who has been fighting for the scheme.
It was Mr. Velusamy’s father K. Marappa Gounder, a former MLA (Avinashi), who first presented the need for expeditious implementation of the project in the Assembly during the tenure of Kamaraj as Chief Minister.
The scheme was aimed to rejuvenate the groundwater potential in places spread over nine Assembly constituencies.
At present, people in Avinashi and nearby areas have to dig at least 1,500 feet to get water.
