TIRUPPUR: The presidents of various village irrigation associations of the Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP) wrote to the Water Resources Department (WRD) seeking them to maintain a balanced water distribution in the PAP scheme.
C Hariharamurthy, Nizhali Village PAP Water Users Association president, in his letter to the PAP executive engineer, stated, “In the PAP scheme, the farmlands are divided into four phases, and as per that, water distribution takes place. In this, the officials do not ask the irrigation associations’ opinion before starting water distribution phase-wise, and also, balanced irrigation is not maintained in the water supply. There is no transparency in water allocation. Therefore, appropriate action should be taken to remove the existing irregularities in the scheme.”
P Vishwanathan, Kokkampalayam Village Water Users Association president, said, “Balanced irrigation is not maintained in the scheme. Details about PAP scheme-related records, documents, norms, and regulations are not provided to association functionaries. Information about water supply is also not provided. Apart from these, many issues exist in irrigated areas. Therefore, a meeting should be convened which includes the WRD officials, PAP planning committee, and irrigation association presidents to discuss those issues.”
K K Muthusamy, Nandhavanampalayam Village Water Users Association president, urged, “There should be transparency in water allocation as per the scheme norms and court orders. However, officials do not follow the norms and orders. WRD should redefine the boundaries of PAP scheme canals.”
K Palaniswami, Kattur Village Water Users Association president, said, “The details including the amount of water provided from Tirumurthy Dam on a daily basis are not disclosed openly. There are various deficiencies in the water supply because in many places there is not enough water for irrigation.”
K Thamizharasu, Kundadam II (new) Village Water Users Association president, remarked, “There is no transparent and balanced irrigation in the scheme. Action is also not being taken to eradicate water theft. It is not acceptable to divert PAP water to ponds as it violation of norms.”
A senior WRD official for the PAP scheme, said, “All decisions on water distribution are taken after consultation with the PAP Project Committee elected by the farmers. They monitor the water supply. So, the officials do not make decisions alone regarding water distribution.
Farmers and associations can raise their views and grievances through the PAP Project Committee.” Currently, the third round of water has been released from Thirumurthy Dam for the second phase of irrigation to 94,201 acres of agricultural lands.