Proposal for fencing vulnerable hotspots along PAP canal under Namakku Naame scheme stuck in red tape

Fencing proposal to prevent waste dumping in PAP canal stuck in red tape, impacting water quality and ecosystem health.

The proposal mooted last year by the farmers in Kangeyam-Vellakoil belt for fencing of the PAP canal at vulnerable locations under Namakku Naame scheme to prevent dumping of wastes is apparently stuck in red tape.

The stench emanating from the dumps along the PAP distributary canal at Kannapuram near Kangeyam is a tell-tale evidence of the absence of coordination between government departments for fructification of the fencing proposal.

Farmers are a worried lot since the flow in the 27 km-long branch canal is crucial for irrigating about 48,382 acres of agricultural land.

In a case of ‘one step forward and two steps backward’, the proposal that seemed to take off with an estimate readied by Kangeyam Municipality last year, now appears grounded as the Pongalur Panchayat has still not acted on the latest No Objection Certificate given during October by the Water Resources Department to measure the identified locations along the canal in its jurisdiction where fencing is required.

Due to the dumping of wastes along the PAP canal at Senjerimalai, Sultanpet and Pongalur by poultry units and by the local bodies, all sluices along the branch canal are clogged with the wastes.

Last year, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board had, acting on representation by the affected farmers, submitted a report to the district administration confirming the dumping of solid waste and plastic, liquor bottles and dead hens on the banks of PAP Vellakoil Branch Canal (Kangeyam-Vellakovil), after inspecting the 27-km long Kangayam-Vellakovil stretch of the PAP branch canal and some of the stretches in Pongalur Panchayat.

Wastes dumped “on the banks and inside the canal arrests the natural course of water,” the report said.