MADURAI
Farmers from Usilampatti area sought the release of water from Vaigai dam under the 58-village irrigation canal scheme, at the monthly grievance meeting at the Collectorate here on Friday.
Manigandan, a farmer, said that the bid to release water through this scheme had failed in the previous years as the canal which is said to link 33 tanks in Usilampatti hardly filled up.
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“It would be accurate if the district administration labelled this area as a drought-hit region. Even though water was specifically opened for Usilampatti area, the inlet channels were unclean and the water released was not enough, causing irrigation failure” he said.
Mr. Manigandan said that he hoped that the canal functioned effectively this year at least. “Water level in the Vaigai dam going higher each day as there is enough water in the catchment areas. We hope that this year at least, the scheme works effectively and that the Public Works department has taken enough steps,” he said. The level in the Vaigai dam was 63.52 ft at 6 a.m. on Friday.
A scuffle broke out during the grievance meeting between officials and the farmers as the latter claimed that most grievances were not being redressed but they were claimed to have been resolved. Though the officials from the revenue and the agriculture departments said that steps were being taken to address issues on a monthly basis, the farmers said that some issues that required urgent attention must be answered at the earliest.
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“Should we wait for an entire week before issues are discussed at the Collectorate to point out that the system is slow?” asked Mr. Gopalakrishnan, an agriculturist.
A section of farmers said that buses between Usilampatti and Madurai barely stopped at designated bus stops, disallowing farmers to reach the city limits.
A representative from the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation denied the allegation and said that most buses were point-to-point.
A section of sugarcane farmers from Melur sought the disbursal of crop insurance at the meeting. They also thanked the officials from the district administration for releasing water for the single crop regions on time.
District Revenue Officer K. Selvaraj took part in the meeting. They collected fresh petitions from the farmers at the end of the meeting.