The slow pace at which repair works being carried out along Contour Canal that carries water to Parambikulam Main Canal (PMC) in the district through Thirumoorthy Dam is bothering the farmers in the 3.75 lakh-acre PMC' s command area.
“Though strengthening of retaining walls, rectification of breaches and renovation were taken up along the 49-km-long Contour Canal stretch at an outlay of Rs.185 crore a year ago, works have so far been completed only on a stretch of two-odd km,” T. Gopal, a coconut farmer, told The Hindu .
Wettings
Owing to the repair works, the farmers in the command area are now getting water only in three wettings a year against the normal frequency of a minimum of six wettings.
They fear that the snail's pace at which the work progresses means that the repairs are not going to get completed in 2014 as promised.
“Making the matters worse, a government order issued a few days ago has instructed the authorities concerned to feed tanks and ponds along the banks of Parambikulam Main Canal which means that many hundreds of farmers are going to get even lesser quantity of water for irrigational purposes,” A. Swamiappan, a retired engineer with Department of Agriculture Engineering and a farmer himself, said.
He further pointed out that repair works along Contour Canal was taken up only because the water getting into the canal at Sarkarpathy power house area in the upstream at a rate of 1,100 cusecs reaches Thirumoorthy Dam at 600 cusecs owing to seepage loss en route.
Diverting water
“In this scenario, the government should not divert the available water itself to the ponds and tanks and further should take steps to complete the repair along Contour Canal in a time-bound manner to save the farmers from distress,” he added.
To represent their predicament and seeking intervention of district administration, a large number of aggrieved farmers met District Revenue Officer R. Gajalakshmi and explained the situation.
