Villagers allege exploitation of groundwater

A group of people from Keezhamathur village near here petitioned Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao on Monday alleging exploitation of groundwater in the area by a purified drinking water plant.

In the petition, the villagers alleged that the plant, established on Madurai-Melakkal Main Road three years ago, had sunk a number of borewells and had been extracting lakhs of litres of groundwater every day using huge pumps. It had seriously affected groundwater table in the village, they said.

One of the petitioners, preferring not to reveal his name, said though the village was located on the southern bank of the Vaigai, it relied only on a borewell sunk at the village for drinking water. “It is through our village that water from the Vaigai goes to Thuvariman tank. We rely on the Vaigai water and wells in the agricultural land for farming. However, for drinking water we primarily rely on the borewell, in which water has depleted now,” he said.

The villagers also said waste water accumulated in the purification process was not disposed of properly by the private firm, which discharged it on the ground, leading to contamination of groundwater.

Alleging that the firm sank some more borewells recently, the villagers demanded immediate closure of the plant. “If it is not closed, we will have no water to drink this summer,” one of the petitioners said.

Waterbody in danger

A section of people from Periya Ulagani village near Tirumangalam petitioned the Collector demanding protection of the tank in the village “which is getting affected due to the functioning of a stone quarry nearby”.

Stating that more than a thousand people were residing in the village, they said a majority of the farmers in the village and nearby areas were dependent on the tank, which was under the control of Public Works department.

P. Jeyaraman, one of the petitioners, said a private company running the stone quarry was dumping wastage from quarrying operation near the tank, often blocking supply channels. “This will prevent water from reaching the tank during rainy season. We petitioned the Revenue department last year, but no action was taken,” he said.

The petitioners also alleged that some people had encroached on the tank, and demanded encroachment removal. “If the district administration addresses these issues, remove seemai karuvelam (prosopsis juliflora) and strengthen the tank bund, the villagers are willing to help maintain the tank,” Mr. Jeyaraman said.