TIRUPPUR: Farmers with lands irrigated by water from the Amaravathi Dam have urged the district administration to intervene as water was allegedly released from the Amaravathi Dam to an old ayacut canal, in violation of regulations and without a government order.
Farmers allege that water was released with the intention of benefiting private coir factories. However, Water Resources Department officials have denied the allegations.
MM Veerappan, secretary of Tiruppur District Sugarcane Farmers Association, said, “About 54,637 acres of agricultural land in Tiruppur and Karur districts receive irrigation facilities through the Amaravathi Dam. Moreover, numerous drinking water projects also rely on this dam. The water level in the dam is currently low. In this situation, recently, the state government issued an order to release water from the dam to the river for four days, from June 19 to June 23, in a total quantity not exceeding 224.64 million cusecs, to meet the drinking water needs of the residents of Dharapuram municipality and the water requirements of livestock.”
“However, WRD officials released water into the Kadathur Canal, one of the six old ayacut canals. We suspect that water was released with the intention of benefiting private coir factories as there are many coir factories in the areas where the canal flows. We further suspect officials have illegally released water in return for money,” he added.
“Usually, water is released from the dam to all the old canals at the same time. But now, water was released into the canal in violation of the norms and without any government order.
Therefore, the district administration must intervene and action must be taken against the officials who committed the wrongdoing,” he added. K Palanisami, a farmer from Madathukulam, said, “We do not know when they released water into that canal. But officials stopped the water after we received information on Tuesday and protested.”
However, WRD officials denied the allegations.
A senior WRD official said, “Water release from the dam for Dharapuram municipality was stopped on Tuesday morning. After the water release from the dam was stopped, farmers relying on Kadathur Canal, seeking to avert drought, moved the shutters themselves to divert the water flowing in the river. However, we closed the shutter as soon as we received information. Yet, farmers are making exaggerated allegations. A lascar was transferred for negligence.”