New check dam can save 15 tmcft of water: Ryots

Pollachi: Farmers of Divansapudhoor near Pollachi urged the government to build a new check dam across a small river at Alankadavu to stock the 15 tmcft of water that flows into Kerala every year, leaving 700 acres of fields in drought near Pollachi.

S.Palanisamy, a farmer association functionary told DC that rain water from the Semnampathy foothills and Machanaickenpalayam flows through streams and reaches the Alankadavu check dam in Divansapudhoor town panchayat. The check dam was constructed during the British period and can store water up to two-km length round the year for irrigating of 700 acres in the Alankadavu and Machanaickenpalayam areas.

Despite giving many petitions to the authorities demanding maintenance of the dam, officials did not take action, he said. This resulted in a crack across the check dam which expanded in course of time and led to its collapse two years ago.

During the Northeast and Southwest monsoons, rain water flows unused into neighboring Kerala, leaving 700 acres of local farmland in drought near Pollachi for the past couple of years. The water entering Kerala from Alankadavu is estimated to be more than 15 tmcft, he pointed out.

“Instead of fighting with neighboring Karnataka, we should save local water sources and practice rain water harvesting,” added the farmer.