Aliyar Dam opened for irrigation

Coimbatore: Collector K Rajamani opened Aliyar Dam gates and released water for irrigation on Wednesday.
The public works department, which maintains the dam, will release 2,548 mcft of water from the dam over the next 80 days, which will help irrigate 22,116 acres of fertile farmlands in the block. Water will be distributed through canals to lands in Pollachi, Vettaikaranpudur, Anamalai and Sethumadai.
The event on Wednesday was kept simple due to the Covid-19 situation. Flowers were dropped into the gushing waters to celebrate the opening of the gate. It was attended by PWD chief engineer Muthusamy and senior engineers Rajendran and Leela. Anamalai panchayat president Shanthi Karthik also attended the event.
While opening the dam gates, the collector appealed to farmers to save water as much as possible.
Though water is released every year, farmers’ association in the region often complain that it is never released for the full 80 days. Many canals are blocked, leading to some lands not receiving water properly and the authorities often not release the promised quantity, they say.