DHARMAPURI: The farmers in Dharmapuri are rejoicing. After five years, the Nagavathi reservoir located near Errapatti village in Pennagaram taluk of Dharmapuri has attained full storage level. The storage stood at 24 feet on Friday against the full storage level of 24.6 feet.
The reservoir is built within the reserve forest of Nagarkoodal, more than 20 km away from the Dharmapuri town. Water from the Nagavathi reservoir irrigates 417.77 acres of farmland in Arakasanahalli, 722.61 acres in Chinnampalli and 852.62 acres in Perumapalai in the district.
Locals said that the reservoir last reached its maximum capacity and the water was released for irrigation in 2011. A villager Mathavaraj said, “Owing to the subsequent failure of monsoon in this area, farming has become difficult. Many people migrated to Bengaluru in search of a livelihood. This rainfall will enable farming in this area again. The inlet stream area is encroached either by farmers or overgrown weeds. This delayed the flow of water into the reservoir.”
He appealed to the district administration to clean the inlet channel to ensure flow of water into the reservoir. This may help sustain agriculture in the area, he said.
Thanks to the heavy spell of rain in the district, 6 of the 8 reservoirs in the had already reached full capacity. These are: Thoppaiyaru, Chinnaru, Varattaru, Ichambadi, Vaniar and Kesarkulihalla. Nagavathi reservoir.