DHARMAPURI: Residents of Palacode urged the administration to construct more check dams in the Chinnar river basin to address water scarcity.
Chinnar is a rain-fed river which flows across Palacode and Pennagaram taluk. It has its water catchment areas in Bettamugilalam, Namagiri , Perungadu and Sastri Mutlu hills in the district and reaches the Chinnar dam. Every year the surplus water drains into Cauvery River. Citing this, residents urged the administration to construct more check dams in the Chinnar river basin and store water.
S Arumugam, a resident of Palacode, said, “Chinnar water flows all the way to Dharmapuri feeding dozens of water bodies in Palacode, Pennagaram and Dharmapuri. During heavy rain, most of the water in the river drains into the Cauvery and becomes unusable. To ensure that this water benefits the farmers in Palacode, we urge the administration to take steps to construct more check dams wherever possible.”
Another resident R Kumar said, “Right now, the Chinnar river is not the only river that is revived by the rains from Fengal. Thollagathu river which drains into the Chinnar has also revived, these waters are wasted every year. During summer farmers are not able to irrigate sugarcane, banana plantations. The administration must take steps to identify such water bodies and build check dams to store more water.” he said.
Officials in the PWD (WRD) department said they assured to look into the matter.