NAGAPATTINAM: Mentioning that thousands of hectares of paddy cultivation in several low-lying villages in Keelaiyur of the district face regular inundation due to flooding of drain channels during monsoon, farmers demand better management of the drains.
Paddy fields in villages Karunganni, Chozhavidyapuram, Madapuram, Melavazhakarai, Meenamamallur and Magizhi are connected to irrigation channels through these drains. The drain channels are meant to drain excess water from paddy fields during heavy rain.
But these villages, near East Coast Road, are at the receiving end as they get flooded easily from water drained by villages to its west. Since these villages are located in low-lying areas, the water doesn't recede from the fields, farmers said.
"During monsoon, paddy fields get flooded and farmers suffer loses every year. The drain channels need to widened and deepened to improve drainage from fields in these vulnerable villages. The estuaries should also be enlarged," said S Srithar, a farmer representative.
Farmers also complained of stagnation when the regulator dam is closed during heavy rain. "We demand a new drain channel or the enlargement of the existing one to prevent flooding in our villages," said A George Alexander, a farmer from Karunganni.
When contacted, an official from the public works department said, "We are removing water hyacinths from the distributaries and channels to reduce clogging. Work on channel enlargement can be carried out next year before the release of Cauvery water [for irrigation]."