The Theni district unit of Tamil Nadu Farmers Association on Monday submitted a petition to the Collector seeking speedy action towards desilting the Vaigai dam.
The petition said that despite repeated discussions among top PWD officials on desilting of the dam, no work had taken off so far. The dam was said to have a silt deposit of 20 feet, shrinking the total storage from 71 feet to almost 50 feet.
“After the Union budget, the State budget sessions are to be presented and demand grants sessions are already on in the Assembly. The issue of desilting Vaigai dam should be forwarded to the government, so that funds are allocated in the budget for the project. As farmers in five districts are dependent on water from the Vaigai dam, it is important that steps are taken on a war footing to desilt the dam and restore its full storage capacity,” said T. Kannan, Theni district secretary of Tamil Nadu Farmers Association.
He further demanded that the top soil mud be given to farmers free of cost. “Whereas, the fine sand can be sold for construction purposes. The water level in the dam is very low and the little water gets heated up so fast that dead fish can be seen floating. In the event of a normal northeast monsoon, desilting the dam will ensure proper storage of water,” he added.