TIRUPUR: In the lap of the Western Ghats in the verdant Niligiris (Ooty), Bhavani, the second longest river of Tamil Nadu, takes birth. The perennial river, a major tributary of Cauvery, snakes its way through the hill district to feed 0.62 million hectares (2,400 sq mi) spread over three states before joining Cauvery at Bhavani in Erode district. It is a veritable lifeline for the farmers, with 90 per cent of its water meeting the irrigation needs of agriculturists. Its not the farms alone that depend on its life-giving force for sustenance, as it is instrumental in wetting the parched throats of the people along its course. Here’s where it gets tricky.
Bhavani swells in size after assimilating its tributaries — mostly small streams coming into existence during the monsoon in the hilly tracts of Ooty, Coonoor and the upper reaches of the Nilgiri hills. It flows downhill to reach Pillur Dam (Athikadavu) in the Melur Reserve Forest range, then joins Cauvery and continues its onward journey towards the Bay of Bengal, where the excess water is drained.
When the mandarins brainstormed to find ways to tackle the water scarcity in the drought-prone areas of the Kongu region (Western Tamil Nadu), they had a bright spark: an ambitious project to store the excess water, recharge groundwater and act as a Flood Management Project (FMP) in one go. It was Avinashi-Athikadavu Project. It was in 1957.
For 60 years, the residents have waited with bated breath to see the project materialise. Thoravalur Sampath, a coordinator with Athikadavu-Avinashi Poratta Kulu, sums up the situation when he says, “It’s not about farming or irrigation alone, it’s about the lives of the lakhs of people in the drought-prone areas of Coimbatore, Tirupur and Erode districts. It’s about drinking water for our people. We need to ensure that the Athikadavu-Avinashi Project sees the light of day. Borewells in thousands have gone dry in our districts. We will have to move out in search of newer areas if the water scarcity is not address through this project. In a nutshell, it’s not about farming alone, the project is about existence.”
Seconding the views of Sampath is K Sathish Kumar, another co-ordinator of the Poratta Kulu. “This year, farmers brought water from outside to celebrate Pongal. The government should take immediate steps. We do not want one more generation to get affected, it has already been 60 years,” he points out.
The project was envisaged in 1957 when two schemes were considered for irrigating the farms in Avinashi Taluk by utilising the excess water from Pillur Reservoir. Christened Upper Bhavani Project, it was to be the precursor of the Athikadavu-Avinashi project.
For 56 years, it remained on paper as an FMP, before being declared an irrigation project in 2013. Years of neglect resulted in the spiralling of the project cost to `1,862 crore. Meanwhile, an alternative, cost-effective proposal was submitted by the Federation for Groundwater Recharge Scheme(FFAAST), designed by PWD Senior Engineers Association, in October 2015, bringing down the cost to `950 crore, also addressing evaporation loss and creating a storage point at Velliangadu to sort out supply woes during the monsoon.
A generation went by awaiting the project’s realisation. With climate change and erratic rains wreaking havoc, desperate residents took to streets to fast-track the project. A group of 14 residents launched a fast at Avinashi in February 2016, soon joined by other like-minded people from Sevur, Annur, Perumanallur, Panayampalli, and Kunnathur. The pressure exerted by them resulted in the government announcing on February 16, 2016, the project would be implemented as Irrigation, Groundwater Recharge and Drinking Water Scheme. A revised proposal was to be sent to the Centre.
However, the government did not move a muscle after paying lip-service and an RTI reply to FAAST query in October 2016, revealed that the State government had not sent a revised Detailed Project Report. While wary of the mass movement, the State allotted `250 crore for the project in 2017. However, farmers grew sceptical of intent as there were doubts on how `3.27 crore was spent for kick-starting the project.
According to Dr D Prabu, convenor of FFAAST, “The project has hit a rut and we have no option other than staging protests from February 8. Due to the delay in executing the project, many smaller projects have been put on hold.”
Meanwhile, the government insists that it is serious about implementing the scheme. When Poratta Kulu met Minister for School Education K A Sengottaiyan recently, he assured that a G.O. was expected soon to transfer the `250 crore allotted in the last year’s budget for the irrigation project to the current scheme of reverse pumping Kalingarayan canal. A top official of PWD said: “The funds are almost ready. We can expect a G.O. soon. The government is genuinely working towards implementing the project.”
Athikadavu-Avinashi Scheme holds key to ushering in an era of sustainable development along with industrialisation in the western Tamil Nadu. However, the ball is in government’s court.
Need of hour
Excessive borewell sinking has depleted water table, which is now between 600 feet to 1,500 feet below ground. The dam will address the issue
It will also result in considerable savings in electricity as borewells need not be operated for long hours
As water is depleting fast, alarm bells are ringing
The project would help meet water needs during drought