Farmers in Dharapuram and Kundadam areas of Tiruppur district are hoping for a year free of water woes after witnessing the release of surplus water from Uppar dam after a gap of over 15 years.
Officials from the Water Resources Department of the Public Works Department said that the surplus water was released into River Uppar at the rate of around 500 cusecs at around 9.10 p.m. on Saturday. Due to increased inflow of water into Thirumoorthy Dam following heavy rain, water was released via the Parambikulam Main Canal to Uppar dam from November 8. Amid heavy rain in Dharapuram and Kundadam areas along with the inflow from Thirumoorthy dam, the water level rose steadily and it almost touched the full reservoir level of 24 feet on Saturday evening, the officials said.
Following this, the officials opened the shutters of the Uppar dam to release the surplus water into the river and issued a flood alert to those living near the river. Prior to this, the surplus water was released from Uppar dam only in December 2005, according to the officials.
Farmers and the public celebrated with fireworks and cheer at the Uppar dam on Saturday evening as the past decade was marked with several protests demanding release of adequate water to the dam.
R. Muruganantham, executive committee member of Tiruppur District Uppar Farmers’ Protection Association, said that the farmers expect the water to be released for irrigating over 6,000 acres of agricultural lands in January next year. “We hope that the water stored in the dam will be sufficient till next year. Due to heavy rain, the groundwater table in these areas have also increased,” he said. Mr. Muruganantham said that farmers could cultivate crops such as cotton, groundnut, maize and paddy and vegetables such as tomatoes and drumsticks on a larger scale with the increased water supply.
The officials said that surplus water through the Parambikulam Main Canal was diverted to Vattamalaikarai Odai reservoir near Vellakoil on Sunday afternoon and the inflow was around 200 cusecs. President of Vattamalaikarai Odai Farmers’ Welfare Association K. Palanisamy on Monday welcomed the move as the reservoir had not received adequate water for nearly two decades. The release of water would benefit around 6,043 acres in Kangeyam Block, he added.
