Though this ambitious project has almost been abandoned, farmers hailing from the rain shadow regions of Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts still believe that the State Government would resume the shelved Tamirabharani – Karumaeniyar and Nambiyar linking project to bail them out.
Work on the river-linking project, proposed to take surplus floodwater of the Tamirabharani to small rivers like Karumaeniyar and Nambiyar by connecting them and ultimately taking the excess water to the dry regions of Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts by digging a 73-km-long canal, was started in January 2011 though the formal inauguration was held in January 2009. It was then announced that the project would be completed before 2014 northeast monsoon.
The project envisages the construction of a storm water canal for 73 km from Vellankuzhi near Cheranmahadevi to M.L. Theri near Sattankulam in Thoothukudi district at a cost of Rs. 369 crore. After digging a 45-km-long canal up to Moolaikkaraipatti from Vellankuzhi, the work has been stopped as no funds were earmarked for the project, which is the only solution to the drought-like situation confronted every year and seawater incursion. If the surplus water from the Tamirabharani reaches this region, it will be stored in the hundreds of ponds and irrigation tanks to benefit farmers.
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After completing the first (99 per cent) and second (98 per cent) phases, no effort has been made to start the third and fourth phases of this scheme. Consequently, the agonizing delay and official apathy have escalated the project cost from Rs. 369 crore to Rs. 872 crore.
Even as hundreds of ponds and irrigation tanks in Nanguneri, Thisaiyanvilai, Srivaikundam and Sattankulam areas, which should have been received floodwater during last northeast monsoon, had only 50 per cent of maximum storage level, farmers and officials were haplessly watching several thousands of cusecs of floodwater of the Tamirabharani draining into the sea as the ambitious river-linking project remains abandoned for reasons best known to the State government.
Office-bearers of farmers’ associations from Nanguneri, Thisaiyanvilai and Sattankulam region believe that the State Government would resume work on this project. “As we can witness remarkable change in the functioning of the Chief Minister, we are hopeful that she will allot funds for the early completion of the project, ” said an office-bearer on condition of anonymity.
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However, former Radhapuram MLA M. Appavu, who has approached the Madras High Court for getting a direction to the State Government on resuming the work on the river-linking project, thinks otherwise. “Legal intervention alone can resurrect this project as the Jayalalithaa-led government is in no mood of resuming a project initiated by the then DMK regime,” Mr. Appavu said.
Echoing Mr. Appavu’s observations, the district secretary of Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, P. Velumayil said sustained struggle inside the Assembly and in Tirunelveli district alone would compel the State Government to resume this ambitious scheme for the benefit of the farming community.
“While this scheme has been abandoned, no step has been taken to repair the damaged Shenbagavalli check dam in the Western Ghats… No fund has been allotted for the Ramanadhi elevated channel though it was announced in the Assembly under Rule 110. So our party will mobilise the farming community and organise sustained struggle to get all these three vital demands executed,” Mr. Velumayil said.