TIRUPPUR : Farmers in Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Erode, and Nilgiris are anxious as the Water Resources Organisation (WRO) has stopped releasing water from 24 dams in the Coimbatore zone for irrigation. Poor rains are blamed and WRO is saving water for drinking water projects in four districts.
According to official records, the water level in all the major dams of the Coimbatore zone has dropped low. The water level in Bhavani Sagar Dam is 48 feet (full depth: 105 ft, Amaravathi Dam is 46.16 feet (full depth: 90 ft), Parambikulam Dam is 19.36 ft (full depth: 72 ft), Aliyar Dam is 55.3 ft (full depth: 120 ft), Sholayar dam is 6.16 ft (full depth: 160 ft) and Thirumoorthi Dam is 50.64 ft (full depth: 60 f).
Federation of Farmers’ Association secretary C Nallusamy said, “Poor monsoon is the primary reason for water scarcity. We received poor rain during the South West Monsoon (June- August 2023), and we received moderate rainfall during the North-East Monsoon (November 2023-January 2024). As a result, there was some water flow in the Lower Bhavani regions. However, the overall picture is bleak for the entire year. Though the water level in all the dams is low, there are some mistakes from the water management and Public Work Department and we have filed a complaint with the officials but nobody is willing to take responsibility.
Former Joint Director of Agriculture (Tiruppur Division) S Manoharan said, “Apart from lack of showers during monsoon, summer showers during February-March also eluded Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts. This could have increased the water level in dams and groundwater but it failed and this could be a serious issue in all the four districts. This will lead to a drought-like situation for the next three months for farmers. The combined irrigation areas in these four districts are estimated to be more than 7 lakh acres including 2.5 lakh acres of irrigation areas depending on the Bhavani Sagar Dam, 1.31 lakh acres of irrigation area depending on the Amaravathi Dam and 1.4 lakh acres from the PAP Canal will mostly be affected.”
Speaking to TNIE, Chief Engineer WRO-PWD department (Coimbatore Zone) P Sivalingam said, “Every March there used to a summer shower and this year that has not taken place as well. We had a carry-over storage of 15 TMC in the Bhavani Sagar Dam and that was used for two seasons of irrigation this year. However, with no rain during the summer shower season, the water level had dropped in all the dams. The PAP Canal system and Amaravathi dam are in a critical condition. A single water cycle is currently supplied instead of two cycles in the PAP Canal for irrigation. Since we cannot predict rain, we have decided to hold water in all the dams for drinking purposes. Around 24 dams have closed their shutter and the shutters to the Bhavani Sagar Dam will be closed on Thursday and no water will be supplied to farmers. This will enable us to carry out the remaining drinking water projects connected with the Aliyar Dam, Thirumoorthy Dam, Amaravathi Dam, Bhavani Sagar Dam, Palar Dam (Palani in Dindigul), and other smaller dams in the Western Region. While drinking water for the Coimbatore district will be directly taken from Pillar Dam, other drinking water projects for the Tiruppur district will be pumped from the downstream of the Bhavani River.”