COIMBATORE: Two farmers in Kaduvettipalayam near Annur donated land to expand a local pond, so it can store more water under the Athikadavu-Avinashi Ground Water Recharge Scheme.
R Saravanan and P Chandrasekar donated 19 cents and 16 cents of land, respectively, to Chetti Kuttai in Kaduvettipalayam panchayat.
The pond, which spans about 15 acres, was included in the Athikadavu-Avinashi scheme. Since the scheme became operational in 2024, the pond has received water on two occasions, helping recharge groundwater and benefiting farmers in Kaduvettipalayam, Kittampalayam and Pathuvampalli panchayats.
However, a large portion of the pond area belongs to private landowners. Before the pond was brought under the Athikadavu-Avinashi scheme, most of the owners had given verbal consent for the use of their land.
Following this, Kausika Neerkarangal, an organisation that works on restoring ponds, tanks and other waterbodies, held discussions along with government officials and concerned landowners.
In the first phase, the two farmers formally registered their land with Kaduvettipalayam panchayat last week for the expansion of Chetti Kuttai. Another farmer, A Viswanathan, has also agreed to donate 10 cents of his land.
The effort has been led for more than three months by PK Selvaraj, president of Kausika Neerkarangal. He expressed gratitude to the donors, noting that several farmers in the vicinity have given land worth several lakhs for the project. He said the enlarged pond will raise the groundwater table in the surrounding area, benefiting agriculture, livestock rearing and drinking water supply.
"About 15 farmers own land in the water-spread area of this pond. We are holding talks with the landowners. Three more farmers have so far agreed to hand over their land for the pond. Their donation will benefit the people of three villages," Selvaraj said.
The two farmers were later honoured with shawls and garlands at a function. It may be noted that the Athikadavu-Avinashi project covers Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Erode districts and includes 1,948 ponds.