The Forest Department, as part of the Special Area Development Programme (SADP) of the State government, has provided water supply to seven tribal settlements within Udumalpet forest range at Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) in Tiruppur district.
According to Udumalpet forest range officer C. Dhanabalan, the project to supply water to seven out of the 12 tribal settlements in the forest range commenced in August and was completed in November. The settlements covered under the project are Thirumoorthy Malai, Kodanthur, Kulipatti, Kurumalai, Poochukottanparai, Kattupatti and Mavadappu.
“The total length of the pipes we used for all seven settlements was around 37 km,” Mr. Dhanabalan said. The project involved drawing water from a perennial stream in the vicinity and supplying to the settlements through pipes by using the gravity flow water distribution system. No electricity or motor pumps were used for the water supply project, he added.
Among the seven settlements, Mavadappu was the most remote one (about 40 km away from Kodanthur) and extending the water supply network to this settlement took around two months, he said. An overhead tank with a capacity of 2,000 litres was installed at Mavadappu to store the water earlier this week.
SADP’s funds worth ₹ 65 lakh were utilised for this water supply project, according to Mr. Dhanabalan, adding that the remaining five settlements in Udumalpet forest range of ATR will also receive water supply following the sanctioning of additional funds.
