DHARMAPURI: Farmers expressed concern after hundreds of fish were found dead in the canals of Thoppaiyar dam. They alleged that the dam water has been polluted by leakage from a petroleum storage unit in the area and appealed to the district administration to look into the issue. The fisheries department, however, allayed their fears and attributed the deaths to the dwindling water levels.
Thoppaiyar dam is one of the key water reservoirs in the district, irrigating over 2,050 acres of cultivation lands in Dharmapuri and 3,280 acres in Salem.
In February, water from the dam was released for cultivation and after nearly two months it was stopped. Now, hundreds of fish have been reported dead. Farmers attributed this to the release of effluents from a petroleum storage unit near Sivadi.
K Vediappan, a resident of Thoppur, told TNIE, “On Sunday, a large number of people saw fish floating dead in the Thoppaiyar canals. Since then, people started claiming that there was leak from the storage tank. This has triggered panic among farmers because our cattle usually drink this water.”
Another resident P Murugan said, “We saw an oil-like layer in the water and thought petroleum from the storage units in Sivadi could have leaked.”
However, the assistant director of the fisheries department Gururaman said, “This is a very common situation, usually rain deposits very limited water in canals and since these waters are not replenished, it loses oxygen content and fish are unable to survive. Right now, water levels have reduced. We have observed a similar situation in Palacode. In Dharmapuri, there is no source of large-scale pollution. So farmers need not be worried.”