COIMBATORE: Farmers are aggrieved as the subsidy for constructing underground water tank has been reduced from Rs 350 per cubic metre to Rs 125.
"Under the Supplementary Water Management Activities (SWMA), subsidies are being provided by the central and state governments to install drip irrigation systems, with the aim of reducing water requirement for agriculture, increasing the yields and income of farmers. Due to the current decline in groundwater levels, water available in agricultural borewells is less and at lower pressure, and cannot be used directly for drip irrigation," K Balakrishnan, a farmer from Sulur taluk.
"To overcome this, the SWMA project has been providing subsidies for constructing underground water tanks, which are used to store water for drip irrigation. It costs a maximum of Rs 40,000 to build a tank, Rs 10,000 to lay pipes and Rs 15,000 to install a pump set. Many farmers showed interest in this project and benefited from it. Meanwhile, this subsidy was reduced and now, Rs 125 per cubic metre is provided to construct a tank with clay or polythene sheet under the National Horticulture Mission," he added.
"If a farmer constructs a cement tank, it costs around Rs 1,000 per cubic metre, totalling Rs 4 lakh for a tank with 1.14 lakh litre capacity. The government provided subsidy of Rs 350 earlier, which was useful. But the current subsidy is very less," he said.
PK Selvaraj, founder of Kaushika Neer Karangal said, "The subsidy of Rs 125 per square cubic metre is not feasible. The subsidy for constructing clay tanks is not appropriate for the current technology. Constructing tanks with polythene sheets is not a permanent solution. Polythene sheets are quickly damaged due to heat, and also by animals. In case of clay tanks, water penetrates into the ground."
P Siddharthan, deputy director of horticulture department said, "The cost for constructing cement tank is higher than clay or using polythene sheets. The present scheme is planned in a manner that beneficiaries can get up to Rs 75,000 as subsidy per tank. As farmers feel cement structure is a permanent solution, a proposal will be given to the government."