PERAMBALUR: Farmers of Arumbavur in the district have blamed the Water Resources department (WRD) for the recent breach of a lake in their village.
They alleged that despite repeated petitions officials didn't fix a water-levelling structure near a check dam conveying water to the 800-year-old waterbody, thus leading to the breach.
The 220-acre lake, which irrigates about 500 acres, has three sluices and receives water from River Kallaru. However, problems arose after miscreants damaged in 2020 a water-levelling structure near the Periyasamy temple check dam that carries water to the lake, farmers said.
Thereafter, the water flow to the lake began to increase beyond normal levels during the monsoon season. Further, the damaged structure brought down water supply from the Periyasamy temple check dam to the other two check dams, affecting farmers of various villages, including A Mettur, Thondamandurai and Vengalam.
Fearing collapse of the damaged structure due to high water inflow into the lake, farmers have been demanding the construction of a new one. They submitted several petitions with the WRD officials and at farmers' grievance meetings, they said.
Meanwhile, there was leakage around the sluice on the southern side of the lake two months ago. Authorities, however, allegedly are yet to act on it.
Against this backdrop, on December 3, heavy rains induced by Cyclone Fengal increased water flow into the lake and caused the breach, submerging about 20 acres of paddy fields around.
S Renganathan, a farmer from A Mettur, said, "It is the first lake in the district to fill up every year during the rainy season. Knowing that the water flow to this lake is high, why didn't the authorities construct a new structure at Periyasamy temple check dam for four years? The negligence of the authorities led to the breach."
Another farmer, R Raja Chidambaram, said, "Even now officials are only taking temporary measures to fix the breach. A permanent solution should be taken without delay. Compensation should also be paid for affected paddy cultivation."
When contacted, a senior official from WRD-Perambalur said, "The breach was caused by the root of a nearby peepal tree. Now we have removed it and fixed it by putting 2,000 sandbags there temporarily. We also have sent a proposal to the government to completely restore the lake and construct a structure with a shutter near the Periasamy temple."