COIMBATORE: Farmers receiving irrigation water under the Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP) expressed disappointment over the Chief Minister's recent announcement to implement a water project for Ottanchatram Municipality by drawing water from the PAP.
They urged the government to not implement the project as they have been reeling under water scarcity.
Last Saturday, Chief Minister MK Stalin announced that the project would be implemented at `930 crore by laying a 60-km pipeline from PAP.
"There are 44,380 acres and 64,000 acres under cultivation in New Ayacut and Old Ayacut respectively in the PAP irrigation system. The crisis will be further accentuated if the project is implemented and water is taken from the Thirumoorthy dam," said AH Ashokkumar, president of farmers in New Ayacut in the Aliyar River Basin.
"When the project was proposed by Food and Civil Supplies Department Minister R Sakkarapani, we met officials of the PWD and urged them to not implement it. We had also staged a mass protest demanding the same. Minister for water resources and Irrigation Durai Murugan had assured us that the project would not be implemented. But the government has taken a U-turn now," he added.
He said they have planned a meeting with all farmers under the PAP in the coming weeks to discuss further course of action.
M Senthil, secretary of New Ayacut Basin of PAP, said, "A total of 50.50 tmc of water is being availed from the project annually. As per the agreement between Tamil Nadu and Kerala, we have to share 19.55 tmc of water. The remaining 30.50 tmc is being used to irrigate 4.25 lakh acres of agricultural land in Coimbatore and Tirupur."
"Dozens of water projects are drawing water from the PAP already. Adding one more will ass to the water crisis. Without the implementation of the Anaimalaiyar-Nallaru project to augment the water sources of PAP, the scarcity cannot be addressed," he added.