TIRUPPUR: A group of farmers launched high-powered drone surveys to identify illegal pipeline connections installed to steal water from the Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP) canals in Tiruppur and Coimbatore districts.
Farmers in Udumalaipet noticed a drone above their farmland in the last week of March and the first week of April, said sources, adding, they didn’t report the matter to police or revenue officials. On April 4, videos and images taken from the drone were circulated widely on social media platforms. Contents of the videos which were shared along with it claiming that these videos will be submitted to the Water Resources Organisation (WRO)-PWD Department in Coimbatore.
Speaking to TNIE, Chief Engineer, WRO (Coimbatore zone) P Sivalingam, said “I am not aware of the issue and none of the farmers or officials informed me about the drone survey. I will check with the officials about it.”.
Meanwhile, top police officers said they are unaware of the drone survey. Speaking to TNIE, DSP (Udumalaipet) J Sukumaran said, “For the past two months we have not received any application or permission from any private individual or a group of farmers seeking to fly a drone or unmanned Aerial vehicle (UAV).”
After a few days, it was found that the farmers belonging to the PAP Farmers Welfare Association had initiated the drone survey to identify the illegal water stealing in PAP canals in Tiruppur and Coimbatore.
Confirming the development, Right to Information activist and PAP Farmers Welfare Association Treasurer S Vijaysekar said “We are very upset by the lack of action from the WRO-PWD department to disconnect illegal water connections in PAP canals.
"We filed a case on the issue and the judgement was delivered in October 2023, based on the judgement the officials of WRO-PWD Department disconnected several illegal pipes drawing water from the PAP canal. But a group of 37 farmers filed writ petitions against the court order. In order to prove the existence of illegal pipelines drawing water from the canal, we decided to launch a high-powered drone to survey and capture the illegal connections. The drone survey was held on 2 days - March 30 and April 3," he added.
Vijaysekar further said, “During the survey the drone was able to capture several illegal water diversions and tanks which stored water from the PAP canal. We will be submitting the real and thermal images captured during the survey in the court on April 16. Out of the 10 hours of video footage, around 6 hours of footage will be eligible for scrutiny at the hearing. After the court submission, we will declare the number of water stealing points and illegal water pipelines to the media-persons.”