Farmers resolve to force govt. to repair damaged Shenbhagavalli check dam
The Hindu
Shenbhagavalli Check-Dam repair resolution by Vaippaar Irrigation Farmers’ Committee to irrigate 40,000 acres, urging Tamil Nadu and Kerala Governments.
The Shenbhagavalli Check-Dam - Vaippaar Irrigation Farmers’ Coordination Committee has vowed to force the Tamil Nadu and Kerala Governments to repair the check-dam damaged in 1965 floods for irrigating over 40,000 acres of cultivable lands in 3 southern districts.
A resolution to this effect was passed in the meeting held at Sivagiri in the district on Saturday.
The resolution said the two-metre-tall and 1,450 metre-long Shenbhagavalli check-dam was built in 1733 in the Western Ghats beyond Vasudevanallur with lime and the forest stones following an agreement between then King of Travancore and Sivagiri Zamin for diverting the water going waste into Periyar forest for raising crop on 40,000 acres over the present Tenkasi, Virudhunagar and Thoothukudi districts.
When the flood severely damaged the check-dam in 1955, then Chief Minister K. Kamaraj took the initiative for repairing the breach in 1959 by holding talks with the Kerala Government. As floods damaged the check-dam again in 1964, the Department of Forest of Kerala Government refused to cooperate with the Tamil Nadu Government for repairing the structure.
However, then Chief Minister M. G. Ramachandran managed to persuade the Kerala Government to plug the major breach. Subsequently, the neighbouring State prepared an estimate costing ₹10.30 lakh and sent it to Tamil Nadu Government seeking 50% share of the expenditure.
Accepting it, MGR sent a cheque for ₹5.15 lakh to Kerala Government in 1985. However, the Kerala Government, for reasons best known to it, indefinitely put the proposal on hold and returned the cheque to Tamil Nadu Government on December 29, 2005.
Seeking direction to the Kerala Government for repairing the damaged check-dam, the Rajasingaperi Irrigation Tank Farmers’ Association in Sivagiri approached the Madras High Court in 2006, which directed both Tamil Nadu and Kerala Governments to repair Shenbhagavalli check-dam within 8 weeks.
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