MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Monday directed the state government to file a comprehensive report on the possibility of releasing Vaigai river water to 16 villages in the Sivaganga district. A Bench of Justices D Krishnakumar and R Vijayakumar gave the direction on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by two farmers stating that nearly 40% of the crops in the 16 villages had wilted due to delay in the release of water. The case was adjourned to January 19.
The litigants, P Gandhi and V Ukkirapandiyan said in their petition that whenever water is released from the Vaigai river that runs through Manamadurai in Sivaganga, it is diverted to Nattar Canal, which connects the irrigation tanks in 16 villages in the district. The cultivation of nearly 10,000 acres of agricultural land depends on this water, they added and requested the court to direct the authorities to divert water and prevent crop failure in the villages. Though the petitioners claimed that excess water from the river was draining into the sea, the government counsel contended that there was no surplus water.