TIRUPPUR: People from Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Erode, gathered in large numbers on the banks of the Bhavani river near the Vanabathrakali Amman temple in Mettupalayam on Thursday for a ritual they have been performing since 2015.
On Tamil Nee Year's day, they collected water from the river and took it to their native villages and perform abhishekam to the local deity praying for the implementation of the Avinashi Athikadavu Ground Water Recharge Project.
MS Sambathkumar, the convener of the Struggle Committee for Avinashi Athikadavu Water Project, said, "To urge the government to implement the water scheme, we started taking water from the river. We have been doing this annually, on the Tamil New Year, since 2015. After our continuous protest, the State government allocated `327 crore for the project in February 2016. The project was started in 2019."
"In the first phase of the project, they included 1,045 water bodies. But 900 water bodies in Annur, Avinashi, Karamadai, Tirupur North, Nambiyur and Perundurai have been neglected. Following that, we have been praying to god to include other water bodies in the project. Especially, in Thoraiyur village in Avinashi block, all the 25 water bodies have been neglected.," he added.
The project aims at irrigating 24,468 acres in drought-prone areas using water from the Bhavani river. The water bodies to be fed include tanks, ponds and check dams in Erode, Tirupur and Coimbatore districts.
These cover Perundurai, Chennimalai, Nambiyur, Gobichettipalayam, Bhavanisagar, Uthukuli, Avinashi, Tirupur, Annur, Sulur, Sarkarsamakulam, Periyanaickenpalayam and Karamadai blocks. Fulfilling people's five-decade-old demand, the project work was started in February 2019.