Several years have gone by since Manodai lake, an important source of irrigation and drinking water to a part of Pullambadi union in Tiruchi district and Thirumanur union in Ariyalur district, was desilted.
The storage capacity has shrunk to a great extent due to poor maintenance for several years. Now the lake is getting a fresh lease of life thanks to the public and private participation to desilt the waterbody.
It all started when a group of farmers of Palanganatham and neighbouring areas took up the issue with senior officials of the State government and the Collectors of Tiruchi and Ariyalur districts.
Farmers led by N. Jayaprakash, who is also the president of Tiruchi (north) District Congress Committee, also took up the issue with the senior officials of Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd stressing on the importance of saving the lake.
The efforts ultimately paved the way for drafting a proposal to undertake a complete rehabilitation of the lake with major contribution of men and machineries to the project from Dalmia Cement under the technical and supervisory support of Public Works Department.
As per the plan, the Dalmia Cement has provided three loaders and ten tippers for desilting and deepening the lake with field-level workers.
The work that began about four weeks ago is set to be completed shortly. They have been working from dawn to dusk for the last 20 days.
“We are happy to be associated with the project. The works are being carried out with the guidance of officials. We hope that the Manodai lake will get into a good shape soon to serve the farmers and residents of various villages,” R.A. Krishnakumar, Executive Director, Dalmia cement, told The Hindu .
Mr. Jayaprakash said that farmers of Palanganatham, Viragalur, Vanathirayanpalayam, Puthurpalayam and Alampakkam were delighted over the project. It would irrigate 2,710 acres of ayacuts of the lake.
It would also meet the drinking water requirements of 20 villages in Pullambadi block in Tiruchi district and Thirumanur block in Ariyalur district.
While thanking the district administrations of Tiruchi and Ariyalur and Dalmia cement for the project, Mr. Jayapraksh said that the Manodai lake should be made as a model of Public and Private initiative.
