Ramanathapuram
Minister for Information Technology M. Manikandan has said that the water starved Ramanathapuram district is entitled to an exclusive share of surplus water from Vaigai dam, whenever the level in the dam reached its full capacity of 71 feet as per the Government Order (GO) passed during the tenure of K. Kamaraj.
As per the GO, surplus water from the dam should be released to the district to meet both irrigation and drinking water needs but the elected representatives from the region never asserted the right, the Minister said addressing a function at the headquarters hospital here on Saturday.
For the first time in 40 years, he had made the authorities exclusively release water to the district from Vaigai dam in December last year, he said. The GO was still in vogue, but seldom implemented, he said.
He said soon after his return from Singapore early this week, he found that the water level in Vaigai dam had touched 69 ft and immediately placed a demand before Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on August 20 to release the surplus water to the district.
He had requested the Chief Minister to release 1,800 mcft of water so that the released water could reach the big tank here after traversing a distance of about 180 km. The Chief Minister agreed to consider the demand, he said. It was unfortunate the district was denied its share when water was released from the dam recently, he said. Even if water could not be released now, he would certainly get it done when the dam became full in December, he asserted.
After Vaigai water reached the big tank in December, 2017, the district administration filled more than 50 tanks and ooranies. The water met the drinking water needs of people for about six months, he said.