Even as a water crisis looms and most farmers are unable to get enough water to even save their standing crops, a few farmers have been continuing to illegally extract many lakh litres of water through pipelines, every day, directly from the Bhavanisagar dam. Farmers associations claim that officials of the Water Resources Organisation (WRO) of the Public Works Department (PWD) are silent spectators to these violations.
As many as five pipelines have been laid for over 700 metres from farmlands, located in Kanrayanmokkai, Periyakallipatti Panchayat in Bhavanisagar block, to the waterspread area of the dam and water is being pumped directly from the dam to the farms every day. Of these, one pipeline is used to draw and supply water to the village by the government. Local people alleged that two persons, who own 100 to 150 acres in the area, draw water every day and supply it to their land on which they have cultivated bananas and mangoes. “This has been going on for many years,” they said and claimed that officials were aware of this. Since the water level in the dam has gone down, a new pipeline was also laid recently to draw more water, they said.
While other farmers could not cultivate crops due to lack of water, the farmland of these two persons continued to be lush green throughout the year. “Even the hillock is encroached upon and banana crops are cultivated,” a local fisherman, who did not want to be named, said.
Farmers associations said the equal distribution of water was necessary and a few individuals could not be allowed to tap it illegally. They pointed out that 3.48 tmc water is available in the dam, and that could only fulfill drinking water needs and hence, water could not be supplied for irrigation for 1.03 lakh acres in Lower Bhavani Project (LBP) ayacut areas in the current season.
K.V. Ponnaiyan, secretary of Keel Bhavani Murai Neer Pasana Vivasaigal Kootamaippu urged the departments of WRO, Revenue and Tangedco, to take immediate action and stop this illegal activity. “When farmers in three districts are suffering due to a shortage of water, a few large farmers cannot enjoy unlimited access to water through illegal means,” he said.
The Madras High Court had, in October 2021, asked authorities to conduct periodical inspections to check for illegal extraction of water and register criminal cases against such persons.
