Farmers want water to be released from the Papanasam dam to save the standing crops of paddy and banana in parts of Thoothukudi. These crops were close to the stage of withering under heat and desperately required water, K.P. Perumal, district secretary, All India Kisan Sabha, said here on Tuesday.
Water should be released from the dam through the North Main Channel to benefit farmers who had taken up cultivation on 5,000 acres in Thangammalpuram, Servaikaranmadam, Kootampuli, Sebathaiyapuram, Maramangalam, Theepachi, Valavallan, Umarikadu, Lakshmipuram, Korkai and Mukkani, he said. These crops would survive for another five or six days without water and if the required water was not released, they would wither dashing the hopes of farmers, who were already affected by floods that occurred in various parts of Thoothukudi in November.
Thousand cusecs of water was needed to save the crops. Currently, the water level in Papanasam dam stood at 81 feet and around 300 cusecs was discharged to cater to the drinking water needs. Hence, a team of farmers, including the district secretary of AIKS, K. Kandasami, president, Banana Farmers’ Association, Srivaikuntam, and Ponraj, president, Srivaikuntam union unit, sought the intervention of the district administration to ensure water release by submitting a petition to Collector M. Ravikumar.
But the Collector, citing the model code of conduct, directed the District Revenue Officer, S. Murugaiah, to help the farmers. However, the District Revenue Officer rang up the Public Works Department officials for water release. “It was unfortunate that the Collector was reluctant to act citing the model code of conduct. Considering the legitimate concerns of farmers, such formalities should be relaxed to offer a speedy solution,” Mr. Perumal said.
