TIRUPPUR: Several thousands of deer are also among the beneficiaries of the Athikadavu-Avinashi Project (AAP) to improve ground water recharge and enhance drinking water supply.
Several hundred ponds were filled with water as the trial of the project was carried out last year. For the past two months hordes of deers have been using the ponds in Avinashi to quench their thirst as the summer season commenced.
There are more than 2,000 deer in Avinashi. These animals are mostly spread in Kothapalayam, Pudupalayam, Thekkalur, and Vanjipalayam panchayats. They rely on the ponds in these villages, said sources from the Forest Department.
In 2023, during the trial of the AAP scheme, water was pumped from the Bhavani River into 1,045 water bodies including tanks, ponds and check dams across the three districts - Tiruppur, Coimbatore and Erode. This filled several ponds in Avinashi last year.
S Gurusamy, animal lover nd environmentalist, said, “Deer are soft creatures and sensitive. They cannot tolerate hot weather and heat waves. If they don’t have water, they move and travel to any distance. Currently, there are a few deer left in my farmland as small ponds in my farm have dried. They have moved along the dry waterbeds of the Koushika River in Avinashi taluk which has some water in parts. Many of my friends and farmers have found the deer slaking their thirst with water left in the many ponds which were filled during the trial phase of the AAP scheme.”
Thekkalur panchayat president M Maragathamani said, “Eight ponds in our panchayat were connected to the Athikadavu-Avinashi Project scheme. Two large ponds - Chekkanipalayam pond and Thimmanaickenpalayam pond - each measure 5 acres. During the trial phase of the AAP scheme, last year, all the ponds were filled with water. During the hot weather, large areas of the ponds dried out. Thankfully, the rest of the areas haven’t dried and this acted as a source of life for deer. Besides, some farmers allow deer to drink water from the streams where water is pumped from wells in the farmlands.”
An official from the forest department (Tiruppur) said, “There are two ponds in Pudupalayam panchayat village: one pond is filled by the forest department and the other point is filled by local farmers for deer. During the inspection by a team of forest officials, we found deer drinking water in a large pit-like formation that is attached to the Kaushika River. Besides, a large pond spanning several acres in Semmandampalayam village was filled with water during the trial of AAP scheme. It has now turned into a valuable water resource for deer.
Besides, another large pond near it which was filled by the waters during the trial of AAP scheme is a source of water to the deers. The trial run of the AAP has indirectly saved the lives of deer”.
