Choked canals causing acute water scarcity in Venganoor

Thiruvananthapuram: The inordinate delay in the cleaning process of the canals has created acute shortage of water in Venganoor panchayat. Majority of the people in the panchayat depend on the canal water for drinking purposes and farming. After all, the canal water replenishes most of the wells and ponds here.
The 19 km long canal carries water from Neyyar dam to Venganoor panchayat, and it travels 22 km further inside the panchayat. Due to the clogged canal the residents have not received water yet.
However, the officials of the irrigation department are blaming the residents of the panchayat for the canal blockage.
They claim that the residents throw all sorts of garbage into the canal, choking it, and blocking the flow of water. Due to this, water cannot be channelized to Venganoor even if water is released for hours, they said.
The officers also cite lack of proper funds for conducting the yearly cleaning process of the canals, as another reason for the delay.
Sunil S, assistant executive engineer, irrigation department, has urged the public to put an end to the habit of throwing garbage into the canals.
“Residents dump branches of trees, food waste and all the unwanted items into the canal. This is the key reason for the issue,” said Sunil. The officials have promised of clearing the canals on war footing to ensure that the residents received water.
“Thousands of farmers in the panchayat incurred huge agricultural losses due to the shortage of water as they depend on the canal water for agriculture,” said Premy P, Venganoor ward member.
The residents of the panchayat also face acute drinking water shortage. “Most of the people here depend on well water for drinking purposes, and there are drinking water connections in several houses.
The water connection is not a reliable source as people only get water once in every two weeks through these taps.
The open wells, borewells, ponds and other water sources have dried up even before the onset of summer. These water sources have to be rejuvenated through the irrigation channel water,” said Rani Valsalan, vice-president of the panchayat.
“As we do not have enough funds to clean the canal, we have decided to clear the channel using funds from ‘annual cleaning programme’. Blockage is more at Punnamoodu and Pallickal areas. These parts have to be cleared first, but we cannot start the works now as currently the water level is high. In a couple of days we will be able to clear the issue,” said Siji P, overseer of the irrigation department.