Farmers from Alanganallur block in Madurai demand that Sathaiyar dam, located near Palamedu, be de-silted to ensure maximum storage of water in the dam. They say that for the past five years, the dam has not reached its maximum storage level of 29 feet, despite recording good rainfall in the catchment areas.
Muthuraman G., State vice-president of BJP Kisan Morcha, who recently petitioned the District Collector regarding this issue, said that once the Sathaiyar dam gets filled, it will help fill 10 system tanks. According to an official from the Public Works Department (PWD), the dam has an ayacut area of 1,450 acres. It has a storage capacity of 56 mcft.
Since the dam had not reached its maximum water storage level, many of the system tanks have remained dry and this has deeply impacted farmers, said M. Selvaraj, a farmer from Sukkampatti village. He added that many farmers were dependent on water from the wells to irrigate their farmlands. “But the ground water table has drastically depleted in recent years,” he added.
Due to insufficient availability of water, many farmers are unable to irrigate their farmlands. “At many places crops have even withered due to shortage of water for irrigation,” he added.
Mr. Muthuraman said that out of the maximum water storage level of the dam at 29 feet, around 10 feet is filled with alluvial soil. “The PWD had de-silted the inlet channel for the dam in 2017-2018. However, dam has not been de-silted for many years now,” he said.
A.M.M. Ambikapathy, a farmer from Pudupatti village of Alanganallur block, said that currently, the water released from Periyar dam for irrigating paddy fields covers only one-third of the agricultural land in the block. “However, if the Sathaiyar dam is filled, then farmers who are dependent on the system tanks for irrigation, will also be covered,” he said. Storage of water in the dam will also help to improve groundwater levels. “This will help farmers who are dependent on well irrigation,” he said.
The PWD official said that one proposal for de-silting the dam was sent earlier to the government for its approval. “But, there has been no update yet,” said the official.
