Repair damaged canal: Farmers

Tirupur: Farmers here requested the state government to renovate the remaining part of the contour canal of the Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP) irrigation scheme. Though 40km stretch of the canal was renovated seven years ago, 10km stretch did not get the required attention, they said.
The feeder canal of Thirumurthy reservoir is the water source for 3.77lakh acres of agricultural lands that fall under the PAP scheme. It can carry 1,150 cusecs water from the Sarkarpathy hydro power station.
“The unrepaired part of the 54-year-old canal is in distress, especially in Nallaru and Varapallam areas. Four farmers from our association visited the canal recently and noticed that the walls were damaged at several places. The breaches lead to seepage and has reduced the carrying capacity,” said S Paramasivam, district deputy president of the Tamil Nadu Vivasaigal Sangam-AIKS.
“Apart from the agricultural lands, Udumalpet municipality, five town panchayats and about 200 villages depend on Thirumurthy reservoir for drinking water. Seven year ago, the government renovated a major part of the canal. Following it, the public works department sent a proposal to the government to renovate the remaining stretch. But so far, the work has not been carried out,” he added.