TIRUPPUR: The Water Resources Department (WRD) has planned to release water for the Parambikulam Aliyar Project's (PAP) first zone on Wednesday. Earlier, as per a government order, water was released from the dam to the first zone on January 24, but it was stopped soon after owing to canal maintenance.
Under the PAP in Tiruppur and Coimbatore districts, 3,77,152 acres of agricultural land are irrigated through the Thirumurthy Dam. These lands are divided into four zones. Water supply for the fourth zone had already been completed on December 25.
Following this, it was decided at PAP's planning committee meeting to send a proposal to the government to release water to the first zone starting January 24. Accordingly, the state government issued a GO to release water from the Thirumurthy dam to the first zone on the same date, but it was stopped soon due to canal maintenance work.
This caused dissatisfaction among farmers because water was last released to the 94,521 acres of agricultural land under the first zone from February 12 to May 22 in 2024. Even then, instead of five rounds, only two and a half rounds were opened.
In this context, as the first zone is currently experiencing a drought, farmers are urging for water to be released quickly, and subsequently, WRD officials have planned to release water on Wednesday.
A senior WRD official said, "Water supply was stopped due to unavoidable maintenance on the PAP main canal and some of its branch canals. During the water release on January 24, maintenance work remained incomplete at about 20 locations. Currently, maintenance works have been completed at 13 of those locations. The remaining works will be completed quickly, and water will be released on January 28 from the dam."
The state government has already issued a GO to open water in five rounds to the first zone until June 8.