Create more waterbodies to meet growing need: Farmers

CHENNAI: “Though the northeast monsoon brought sufficient rain, Tamil Nadu didn’t have enough storage capacity to utilise it. Hence, more waterbodies must be created to meet future requirements,” Vivasaya Munnetra Kazhagam (farmers’ association) general secretary K Balasubramani said.

He pointed out that Telangana has been improving its lift irrigation project and giving farmers free power round the clock so water is utilised at the right time. The Tamil Nadu government can create more small tanks and store water in pipelines, he suggested, adding that if the State starts utilising rainwater and inflows from other states, there will be no drought in the next five years.

An official from the water resources department (WRD) too said that due to Tamil Nadu’s lack of storage space, water is continuously being released into the sea. The official added that most of the State’s major reservoirs, including Mettur, Bhavanisagar, Sathanur, and Vaigai, were filled during the southwest monsoon, and there is no space for water from the northeast monsoon.

Besides, the Biligundulu station released an additional 437.346 TMC ft of water to the state till November, which was diverted and never used. All this water can’t be stored, but the State can increase ayacut farming lands by encouraging new cooperative lift irrigation schemes and diverting the water to small tanks through pipelines, he said.

G Ajeethan, state technical secretary of the Consortium of Indian Farmers Association (CIFA), told TNIE the state depends on the Union government, World Bank or Asian Aid funds for water-related projects. A delay in getting approval from the Union government affects such schemes, and nothing is being implemented, he added. 

“To resolve such problems, long-term policies for judicious water management are needed. When the State government changes, the previous government’s schemes are disregarded. This must be changed,” he said, and added that the State needs to allocate sufficient funds to create waterbodies and build barrages.
A senior WRD official told TNIE plans are on to link tanks to create small drinking water reservoirs in Chennai region, but there is no such proposal for the rest of the State.