Speaking to TNIE, Tamil Nadu Farmers Association (Udumalaipet) president U Paramasivam said,” Many farmers who own land along the branch canal of PAP Canal have started selling land due to several factors. Though there is no bar on them from disposing of their land, it is worrying that the importance of branch canals is not recognised by the realtors. For example, a small canal (Arani Vaikkal) of 2 feet wide can irrigate more than 20 acres. However, land promoters will not allow an open water channel to pass through his residential site. So, he destroys it” A Chinnasamy, a farmer said,” Land promoters use the Field Map Plan (FMP) document to get approval from DTCP for a site. Unfortunately, small channels are not mentioned in the FMP document. The land promoters destroy the water channel or close it. When DTCP officials arrive to inspect the site, they would not find the channel and so approve the site. This has happened in K Vallakoundapuram and Kondingiyam villages.”