Clogged channels hamper irrigation in delta region

Farmers complain that river water is not making its way up these channels as a result of inadequate desilting over the years

TIRUCHI,TAMIL NADU,22/03/2017: Desilting works under the 'Kudimaramathu scheme' at Poovaluvillage near Tiruchi on March 28, 2017...Photo: A. Muralitharan

Farmers in the Cauvery delta region, especially those in the tail-end areas, are appalled at the sight of water flowing in the main rivers but not heading up in channels that have become clogged as a result of having silted up over the years, thereby impeding irrigation at this crucial juncture.

The Public Works department (PWD) has either failed to desilt the channels or has done a tardy job, allege farmers.

PWD blamed

“Water is flowing in the main river courses, but the flow is practically nil in most of the channels in Tiruvarur district. The PWD should have taken up and completed the desilting work well ahead of the release of water from the Mettur dam a fortnight ago. Instead, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami chose to counsel us to use the available water judiciously. We are aghast at the water supply situation,” says S. Durairaj of Erukkattur village in Tiruvarur district. His fields are irrigated by the channels that branch off the Pandavaiyaaru, which have got silted up over the decades. The same is the case with farmers in many other areas of the region.

“Water is flowing in Vennar, Vettar, Kudamurutti, Bamaniyaaru, Rajasoodamaniyaaru and Valavanaaru, which are the main rivers in Tiruvarur district. Even if water were to be allowed into the channels branching off from these rivers, the farmers are not going to receive water in time as these channels have remained clogged and unattended to for far too long,’’ observes G. Sundaramurthy, district secretary, the Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, which is affiliated to the CPI (M).

“Had they been properly dredged, even minimal quantum of water could have helped us. The situation is worse in the tail-end areas such as Tiruthuraipoondi, Kottur, Muthupettai and adjoining areas,” he notes, adding that the farmers had repeatedly made representations to the officials concerned, but to no avail.

There are 36 main rivers — 21 belonging to the Cauvery system and 15 belonging to the Vennar system — apart from the Grand Anicut Canal system, which comprises a few more rivers. A total of 1,665 Class A channels branch off from the 36 main rivers in the Cauvery delta, and traverse around 6,900 km to feed Class B, C, D, E, F and G category channels, which eventually lead water to the fields.

‘Need holistic approach’

The government has allocated ₹100 crore towards implementing the Kudimaramathu scheme and carrying out desilting work across the State. “Do you think anything worthwhile could have been done with such a paltry allocation? What we delta farmers require is a holistic and integrated approach to desilting the waterways, and not a haphazard, tardy and farcical desilting that is of no use to us,” says Arupathy P. Kalyanam, general secretary, the Federation of Farmers’ Associations of Cauvery Delta Districts.

“Instead of [resorting to] piece-meal desilting, the State government must undertake regulator-to-regulator desilting, and that too in a cyclic manner, so that all channels get dredged in a space of three years,” Mr. Kalyanam said. “Political interference also adds to our agony as it undercuts any logical allotment of desilting work,” he said.