Water users’ association in tail-end of PAP system removes silt from branch canal with own contribution

TIRUPPUR farmers take initiative to clear silt from neglected canal, despite fund shortage, sparking hope for water availability.

Fund shortage faced by the Water Resources Department has not deterred a water user association in a tail-end area of PAP (Parambikulam-Aliyar Project) canal system from spending own money to remove silt from the branch canal.

The farmers associated with the Pappini Water Users’ Association got their acts together to clear the silt and garbage accumulated in the branch canal over a 12-year period. The work was done under the supervision of association president Aanur Suresh.

The branch canal was in a state of neglect as water could not reach the tail-end areas so far from the Thirumoorthy Dam that feeds the PAP canal.

While there are visible signs of farmers getting their acts together for carrying out similar initiatives in other water user groups to optimise the utility of the release of water into the canal from the Thirumoorthy Dam, there are also instances of many associations refraining from carrying out the restoration work on own volition due to frustration caused by water theft along the main canal, according to president of PAP Vellakoil Branch Water Conservation Association ( Kangayam -Vellakoil) P. Velusamy.

The farmers had no other option, but to spend their own money after the plan by the district administration to desilt the irrigation canals under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) could not fructify.

Now that the district administration and Water Resources Department have taken cognisance of the vibrancy among the tail-end farmers in seeking legal remedies, a glimmer of hope prevails among the cultivators that the water will be made available in the tail-end for the forthcoming cultivation season.

The farmers in the tail-end areas in Kangayam and Vellakoil, who had been relentlessly fighting against water theft en route the 126-km canal, nevertheless, wonder why the Water Resources Department had not been able to put in place an effective monitoring mechanism for constant scrutiny of the water level point gauges, Mr. Velusamy pointed out.