TIRUPPUR: Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO) has severed illegal power connections to 31 wells and two borewells installed by coir units near the PAP canal in Udumalaipet between May and November.
TANGEDCO shared this details in reply to an RTI query filed by an activist recently. These illegal power connections were detected between Thanthoni village and Kuralkarattai villages during periodical inspections.
Speaking to TNIE, S Vijayasekaran, a farmer who filed the query, said, “Water theft is rampant along the PAP canal in Tiruppur district. Officials refused to reveal inspections about the Joint Monitoring Committees (JMC) and actions, following which I filed the RTI petitions. After filing three petitions, I got these numbers. We have already filed a case in Madras High Court, and the judge had sought details like the name of the people who steal water, survey numbers, locations and villages etc.”
Elaborating about water theft by coir units, PAP farmers welfare association president V Ramalingam said, “Coir manufacturing industries fall under white category as per the latest re-categorisation of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), they consume a lot of water. For the process of 100 kilograms of coir materials, we need more than 500 litres of water.
At this rate, we can’t imagine the volume of water these coir units have stolen from the PAP canal. These two coir units were functioning in Indira Nagar in Periyakottai in Udumalaipet for nearly ten years. The waste water from these units is believed to have caused pollution of groundwater in the locality.”
An official from TANGEDCO said, “Show cause notices have been issued to violators in the last six months. Besides, we are disconnecting power based on the decision from RDO who heads Joint Monitoring Committees (JMC) team in Tiruppur and Coimbatore district.”