Committee for modernising the irrigation systems
Thanjavur:The State Government will soon appoint a committee of experts to prepare a report on modernising the irrigation system in the Cauvery delta, PWD Minister Durai Murugan said on Sunday.The committee of working and retired Chief Engineers and Superintending Engineers of the PWD would submit a report in three months. Based on it, a proposal would be submitted to the World Bank, which had promised to fund the project, he said at a seminar on irrigation organised by the PWD here.The modernisation, he said, would help to ensure water flow to the tail-end areas and provide flood relief.A Rs. 200-crore proposal for strengthening the right bank of the Kollidam, from the Grand Anicut to Poompuhar, was submitted to the State Government.It would be sent to the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development for funding. Proposals for strengthening of bunds and repairs to shutters and regulators, at a cost of Rs. 450-500 crore, were submitted to the Government.A Rs. 1.25-crore proposal for desilting the Thirumeni lake in Nagapattinam district was submitted to the Government. It would be sent to the NABARD.He said a law had been enacted to empower engineers to arrest those who encroached upon waterbodies. The encroachers could be detained under the Goondas Act.Minister for Co-operation Ko.Si. Mani said co-operative credit, especially short-term loans, would be given to farmers soon for samba cultivation.
Minister of State for Finance S.S. Palani Manickam promised to get Central Government assistance for irrigation work in the delta region.The NABARD had been asked to fund a project for strengthening the bunds of the Grand Anicut Canal.Nagapattinam MP A.K.S. Vijayan said repairs to shutters and regulators should be given importance.S. Ranganathan, secretary, Cauvery Delta Farmers’ Welfare Association, called for chemical spraying to eradicate “Neyveli Kattamanakku.”Thiruvaiyaru MLA Durai Chandrasekaran demanded a retaining wall to protect Thokur, a village near the Grand Anicut, from floods.
