The vast spread of hyacinth in River Cauvery near Karungalpalayam is a concern for authorities as it disrupts the flow of water and also get caught in the turbines at the Bhavani Kattalai Power Plant-II affecting power generation.
The entire water spread area near the Cauvery Bridge connecting Erode and Namakkal district is covered with the invasive and free-floating aquatic plant presenting a green cover in the area.
The barrage is located across the river while the powerhouse is located between Vendipalayam and Odapalli in Namakkal district, generating 30 MW. Since the weeds get caught in the turbines, workers frequently remove hyacinth manually for many years now. “Hyacinth slows down the velocity of water near the barrage,” said a Tangedco official who pointed out the difficulty in removing the hyacinth regularly.
Officials face the hyacinth problem for over six months a year when water is released from Mettur Dam for irrigation and also during the rainy season when the water flow is high. Though water from River Cauvery is not used for carrying out irrigation in the district, fishing is carried out in the river at many places and fishermen also complain of hyacinth damaging their nets.
A fisherman at Parisalthurai said due to the spread of hyacinth, they were unable to catch fish at those spots and it affected their livelihood. “We need a permanent solution to weed out the species,” he added.
