THOOTHUKUDI: It’s irony at its best. Tamil Nadu fights for its share of Cauvery water from neighbouring Karnataka, but lags behind in employing resources at hand. The 147-year-old Srivaikundam Dam stands testimony to this, with the farmers from South TN engaged in a struggle for desilting the dam that carries water from the Thamirabharani, the State’s only perennial river.
Thamirabharani, whose sweet water is said to be the reason that made the famed Tirunelveli halwa special, used to fill the dam in the earlier days. But not anymore, as clay and fine sand carried by the river in its wake have brought the storage level in the dam down considerably. During monsoons, an estimated 20 tmc of water runs into the Bay of Bengal, a clear loss for the farmers who depend on the dam for cultivation purposes.
“The anaicut has a total capacity of 8 tmcft and has potential to irrigate over 2.5 lakh acres of land. The total 46,000 acres of land in the basin below the dam can go for cultivation in three crop seasons every year if the dam is stored to its full capacity,” said Gandhimathi Nathan, president of Srivaikundam Dam and Water Storing Ponds Protection Association, explaining why dam desilting was necessary.
The eight-ft-high dam was built by the British in 1869 for the benefit of the farmers in the tail-end of the Thamirabharani, spread across Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts. The ancient Sri Vaikundam Perumal Temple — said to the third largest in the State and what, according to myths, is the place where Lord Narayana returned the Vedas to Lord Brahma — overlooks the dam. The road built over the river connects both the sides.
But what was once the lifeline of acres of fertile lands has diminished into an overbridge due to accumulation of silt.Farmers now skip ‘Advance Kar’ (April-May) and ‘Kar’ (June-August) seasons. The single phase cultivation of ‘Pisanam’ from October to February is the only choice for paddy growers.
The area covered under paddy and banana has not only diminished, but it has also resulted in migration of farm hands to Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi.
“Advance Kar cultivation is gone. And very few take up ‘Kar’ crops. With only ‘Pisanam’ left, agricultural workers have lost their jobs. They had no option, but to search for jobs in industrial areas,” said senior CPI leader Nallakannu.
Not just agriculture, the dam was also the source of water for 14 industries in the periphery of Thoothukudi district. According to the Public Works Department sources, nearly 20 MGD (millions of gallons per day) of water was drawn from the dam by industries using motor pumps.
Why no desilting?
Since 2011, the State government has been writing to the Centre for environment clearance to desilt the dam. As the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) holds lease for the forest areas surrounding the dam, its approval is a must for desilting activity. But the clearance never came, and farmers and political leaders, including Vaiko and Nallakannu, had to move the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on June 2 last year.
In its June 5 order, the NGT said, “We note with regret that this has been the attitude of the MoEF from 2011 onwards and it is unfortunate that even for desilting the dam, the Government of India has taken almost five years... Only during the onset of monsoon does the MoEF come forward to say that they need some more time.”
After the NGT rap, the MoEF gave clearance for desilting for a 12-month period on June 10. The project cost estimated by PWD was `4.5 crore, of which 70 per cent could be recovered by auctioning silt, considered to be fertile.
Trucks started moving around the area and there was a glimmer of hope. But soon it was found that the contractors engaged by the PWD were carrying sand from the river basin and the earth movers were active on the river bed. In effect, nothing was happening in the area close to the dam where silt was present.
As the petitioners believed that such a flawed approach would in no way enhance storage levels, but would lead to depletion of the ground water, they approached the NGT once again. And all the activities came to an abrupt end after NGT halted the process. With the expiry of the MoEF clearance, now the cycle of obtaining clearance must start again if desilting is to happen.
Advocate S Joel, who is one of the petitioners in the case, said a check dam in the upstream of the river is a must to prevent silting. “A check dam between Kongarayakurichi and Athichanallur villages can filter sand,” he said. But with many hurdles on the way, Tamil Nadu continues to lose Thamirabharani’s sweet water to the Bay of Bengal.