Thanjavur: Delta farmers upset over breach

Thanjavur: Two incidents highlighted the poor preparedness in surplus water management in the Cauvery delta districts. One is the breach in the Grand Anicut (GA) canal at Kalvirayanpettai near Thanjavur on Thursday, which was yet to be plugged till Friday evening;  the other is that lakes in the tail end areas of Peravurani in Thanjavur district which have not been included in desilting and repair works are not ready for storing surplus water.

In the GA canal breach, ironically, A.Annadurai, Thanjavur district collector inspected the banks on Wednesday from Thanjavur to Grand Anicut and certified that they are strong. But the breach occurred the following day. The PWD engineers came out with an explanation that rats created holes in the bank. If that was so, was it not the duty of PWD engineers to prevent the damage caused by rats earlier or was it not their duty to repair it beforehand, asked farmers at the monthly farmers grievances day meeting held at the Collectorate on Friday.

The PWD engineers said that initially 1,000 cusecs of water was released into the canal in view of breaches that may occur in vulnerable points. But this was increased to 3,000 cusecs following demands from farmers for water. “We will plug the breach by Friday evening,” they said. 

Farmers said that initially 1,000 cusecs was released into the GA canal only to help complete kudimaramathu works, which were started at the eleventh hour. “So we were not able to get water even when the Grand Anicut was brimming with water. Now water supply has been stopped in the canal, following the breach. So we are not able to get water now,” farmers complained.

Veerasenan, a farmer from Pattukottai, said that the canal was modernised with funds from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) during the DMK regime due to the efforts made by S.S. Palanimanickam, former union minister in the UPA government. But there was no follow-up by the present government. He also said that while the breach occurred due to surplus water in the canal near Thanjavur, many lakes in the tail end areas of the same canal in Pattukottai and Peravurani have not been included in the desilting or kudimaramathu list because of which they cannot store water. 

He cited the example of the Sellikurichi lake at Pudukottai Ulur near Pattukottai. The lake over 294 acres is like barren land. If water is let into this lake through the Raja Madam canal, a branch of the GA canal, it can store large quantities of water and can also feed four more lakes which depend upon this lake, Veerasenan said. The lake has an ayacut of 1,000 acres. Another lake is Umathanadu Periya eri near Peravurani, occupying an area of 840 acres and irrigating thousands of acres. 

“The GA canal is a man made canal and British engineers designed and executed it. It is known for its water efficiency and is meant for irrigating new delta area included after the Mettur dam was built. In this canal, water released in the head (same quantity) reaches its tail end. That is how it is designed. It has aquaducts also in between. PWD engineers should maintain it properly,” Veerasenan said. Services of experienced engineers who have worked in the delta can be utilised for water management, Veerasenan added. 

The engineers explained only in GA canal water release was stopped due to the breach, but in Cauvery division, water has been released into all other branches. 

Meanwhile, water level at Mettur dam stood at 120.31-ft on Friday morning. The storage was 93.96 tmcft. Inflow into the dam was 61,291 cusecs and discharge was 59,685 cusecs. Water let in from the Grand Anicut into Cauvery was 9,029 cusecs, into Vennar 9,516 cusecs, and into Kollidam 7,000 cusecs. 
A. Annadurai, Thanjavur district collector, presided over the grievances day meeting.