DINDIGUL
People belonging to Kottur Avarampatti in Dindigul west taluk in a petition submitted to Collector complained that no action had been taken on a petition that they submitted in May 2018, seeking repair works in the main channel and check-dam of Kodavanar river.
The river feeds Tamaraikulam tank in the village and over 700 acres of agricultural lands draw irrigation from the tank. However, the shutters in the check-dam on Kodavanar near Palam Rajakkapatti is in a bad shape, complain villagers.
“The sluices are also in a highly damaged state. Failure of rainfall has resulted in a dry tank. We had submitted petitions for desilting of Tamaraikulam tank several times but the district administration only cut the karuvelam trees and has not desilted the tank. Likewise, the main feeding channel from Kodavanar to the tank has to be deepened and paved. There is a broken bridge across the channel that has been free flow of water,” said Rajapandi, a farmer.
“After we submitted a petition in May 2018, officials from the PWD, including Assistant Engineer, visited the bridge and channel several times. They have been saying that an estimate is being prepared but no work has started so far. The Collector should intervene and find us a solution to the issue. Kodavanar is the only source of irrigation for many villages in Dindigul west taluk. It’s a region known for banana and paddy cultivation. The inlet and outlet shutters to the tank have to be replaced or repaired and the banks of the main channel have to be strengthened,” he added.
