Farmers in Udumalaipet have appealed to the district administration to take action against real estate promoters who block or destroy branch channels of the PAP canal.
TIRUPPUR: Farmers in Udumalaipet have appealed to the district administration to take action against real estate promoters who block or destroy branch channels of the PAP canal which prevents the flow of water to the tail-end areas.
Speaking to TNIE, Tamil Nadu Farmers Association (Udumalaipet) president U Paramasivam said,” Many farmers who own land along the branch canal of PAP Canal have started selling land due to several factors. Though there is no bar on them from disposing of their land, it is worrying that the importance of branch canals is not recognised by the realtors. For example, a small canal (Arani Vaikkal) of 2 feet wide can irrigate more than 20 acres. However, land promoters will not allow an open water channel to pass through his residential site. So, he destroys it” A Chinnasamy, a farmer said,” Land promoters use the Field Map Plan (FMP) document to get approval from DTCP for a site. Unfortunately, small channels are not mentioned in the FMP document. The land promoters destroy the water channel or close it. When DTCP officials arrive to inspect the site, they would not find the channel and so approve the site. This has happened in K Vallakoundapuram and Kondingiyam villages.”
Speaking to TNIE, an official from the Water Resource Organisation (WRO) said,” It is necessary to get a No Object certificate (NOC) from the PWD Department where a small or big channel of PAP canal passes through farmland.
In order to bypass the NOC from the PWD, farmers and landowners destroyed the canal. Tail-end farmers can report such incidents and we will inspect the site and severe action will be taken against these promoters.”