Invasive seemai karuvelam trees at Marudaiyaru dam need to be removed, demand residents
PERAMBALUR: A section of residents demanded authorities to weed out the invasive 'seemai karuvelam' trees (prosopis Juliflora) that have overgrown inside the Marudaiyar dam in the district and to level certain upland areas which have dried up, to allow inflow of water.
Moreover, as many birds migrate to the area, sand dunes should be set up inside the dam for the birds to nest and breed, they added.
Almost 95% of construction works of the reservoir across Marudaiyar at Kottarai village in Alathur taluk has been completed except for the branch irrigation canal, said sources.
According to sources, the 'seemai karuvelam' trees absorb excess ground water and cannot shelter birds as it produces less oxygen and more carbon dioxide.
This invasive plant along with other dry trees has overgrown in many parts of the dam, absorbing the rainwater supposed to be stored in the dam.
Moreover, since many portions of the dam are located in (higher) hilly areas, there is no inflow of water. This coupled with insufficient rainfall last year has caused these areas to dry up. Hence, residents are demanding to remove the 'seemai karuvelam' and other trees before the end of summer and to level the upland areas.
N Suresh, a resident of Kottarai, said, "If the upland areas of the dam had been deepened and levelled when the construction of the dam began, more water could have been stored. Now, as the water is drying up, the seemai karuvelam trees should be weeded out and the levelling of the dam should be expedited rather than delayed as there is no water supply in many parts of the dam."
"The sooner the work is done, more water can be stored and used in case of scarcity," he added.
Another resident A Muralidharan added, "As Perambalur district has very few tourist attractions, we can build sand dunes and plant trees inside the dam, so that the birds migrating here can nest and breed. Later, a park can be set up here to declare it as a tourist spot."
The collector had passed an order to weed out the invasive trees a year back. When contacted, a senior official from district water resources department told TNIE, "The earthmovers cannot enter the dam currently as there is water inside. After the water dries up in the summer, we will take necessary steps to remove or burn the trees. Regarding the birds, we are planning to set up a park and provide necessary facilities after completion of the dam works."