Restore waterbodies on priority before the onset of northeast monsoon, Thoothukudi farmers urge govt.

Farmers from Nochikulam village arriving at the Thoothukudi Collectorate to attend the grievance meeting on Monday.
| Photo Credit: N. RAJESH

Farmers of Thoothukudi district on Monday submitted petitions to Collector K. Elambahavath at the weekly grievance redress meeting, urging the authorities to take steps to restore water channels and ponds that were breached in heavy rain and floods in December last year.

The Thoothukudi District Maruthur, Melakkal, Keela Puthukulam, Muthalai Mozhikulam, Nochikulam Water Users’ Association, represented by its president S. Senthur Pandian, in the petition, said that waterbodies were breached in December floods. Though a government order was issued to restore waterbodies, apart from temporary work, the restoration work had not been completed. The work should be completed before the onset of the northeast monsoon, he said.

He said that retaining walls should be strengthened. If the restoration work was not carried out in time, there was a danger of the waterbodies breaching again. The agricultural activities were affected last year and if permanent restoration work was not carried out on a war-footing, the livelihood of farmers would be affected, he said.

Similarly, S. Lakshmanan of Chinnanattathi village in Eral submitted a petition stating that the agriculture lands were affected because of the breach in the waterbodies. He urged the authorities to take up the work, otherwise farmers would be affected, he said.

Residents of Korampallam and Anthoniyarpuram villages of Korampallam panchayat submitted a petition to the Collector urging the authorities not to merge the panchayat with the Corporation. If it was merged with the Corporation, then the workers could not be hired under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Programme and most families would lose their livelihood, the residents said.

Some other petitions submitted at the weekly grievance meeting included petitions to the Collector to remove hoardings and billboards which posed a threat to the public.