COIMBATORE: Farmers in Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts expressed happiness as the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD) has decided to scrap its project to draw water from Aliyar dam and supply it to households at Oddanchathiram in Dindigul district.
According to sources, TWAD officials have cancelled the tender for the project and drawn up an alternative plan to source water from the Cauvery river. The TWAD board had proposed to draw 45.63 MLD from Aliyar dam at a cost of Rs 930 crore. For over a year, farmers in both the districts have been opposing the move to supply water to Oddanchathiram from Aliyar dam, which is one of the dams coming under Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP).
Farmers formed a Federation for protecting Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP) and conducted a rally and petitioned the district collectors of Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts urging them to recommend to the government to cancel the proposal. Even farmers in Kerala have opposed the project as they fear they would lose their share of water from Tamil Nadu under the PAP.
In the wake of the stiff opposition, the State government called representatives of farmers, headed by K Paramasivam, for negotiations where officials assured them that the project will not be implemented without their approval.
However, TWAD board officials floated a tender for the project, which sparked a fresh round of protests. Finally, TWAD cancelled the project. SVS Murugesan, Chief Engineer of TWAD Board, Madurai has issued the order cancelling the tender. Murugesan added that the board is finalising the alternative plan of drawing water from the Cauvery river at Nanjaipugaloor in Karur district.
“We have prepared an estimate of Rs 850 crore to draw 43.36 MLD daily. A GO in this regard will be issued soon,” he explained. Paramasivam said, “On behalf of thousands of farmers and traders, I thank State government for considering our demand. Four lakh acres of agricultural land in both districts would have been affected had the project been implemented.”