TIRUPPUR: Thanks to the incessant rain in the last few days, the water level in most of the dams in the Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP) is inching towards full capacity. However, only the Thirumurthy Dam in Tiruppur district has insufficient water inflow. Farmers say this is because renovation work in the contour canal, which connects Sarkarpathy Power House to the Thirumurthy Dam, has blocked water flow. The farmers have urged the government to suspend the canal repair work and allow water to flow into Thirumurthy Dam.
P Velusamy, president of PAP Vellakoil Branch Canal Water Conservation Movement, said, "Thirumurthy Dam can store 1,755 Mcft of water. It gets water from the Cholayar and Parambikulam dams through the contour canal which is 49.30 kilometre long. Most of the PAP dams, except Parambikulam, are nearing capacity but there is no water inflow into Thirumurthy."
"The main source of water for Thirumurthy is the contour canal. But repair works are currently going at two places on the canal. On Sunday we visited the PAP dams and came to know that surplus water from a few dams goes to Kerala. But Kerala authorities said that it does not need water at present. Meanwhile, the areas dependent on the Thirumurthy Dam in Tiruppur are facing a drought-like situation. Farmers are buying water to irrigate coconut trees," he added.
Further, he said, "The repair work should be stopped as its is preventing water from reaching the Thirumurthy dam. Water should be released from the Thirumurthy Dam for the second phase of irrigation in August. But the water availability is low at present."
M Nataraj Periyasamy, a farmer, said, "Earlier, the district collector inspected the contour canal and ordered officials to complete repairs at the earliest. However, the work is going at a slow pace. This will delay bringing water to Thirumurthy. Due to this, there will be a delay in opening water for irrigation. We have planned a protest on July 25."
A Mahendran, Executive Engineer of the Water Resources Department, said, "Parambikulam Dam is not full yet. It should reach capacity. Till then water will not be wasted. At present, the storage is about 10 tmcft against the full level of 17 tmcft. In addition, due to continuous rains, work on the contour canal has been delayed. We hope to complete it before August 10. We are planning to bring water to Thirumurthy Dam from August 15 through the canal."
"Water will be opened for irrigation from Thirumurthy only at the end of August. The dam is likely to be full by then," he added.