Chennai, July 30 Farmers in several village panchayats of Tiruppur district in Tamil Nadu have threatened to launch a series of protests after water from the Bhavani River failed to reach many ponds under the Athikadavu-Avinashi Project, despite the release of surplus water from the Lower Bhavani (Bhavani Sagar) Dam earlier this week.
“Many water bodies in Nambiyampalayam, Thekkalur, Karuvalur, Pudupalayam, Uppilipalayam, and Kittampalam are completely dry,” said S. Thangamuthu, a farmer from Thekkalur and coordinator of the Athikadavu-Avinashi Project Agitation Committee.
“After decades of struggle, the project was commissioned last year. But in many areas, water bodies are still not receiving adequate water. In some places, water has not reached the ponds at all,” he said.
Thangamuthu added that repeated complaints to officials had yielded no results. “16,700 cusecs of excess water were released from Bhavani Sagar Dam into the river yesterday. Yet, ponds in our area remain dry. We continue to face drought-like conditions even though the project is operational. We are preparing to mobilise farmers and launch a series of protests soon,” he warned.
Supporting the call for protest, M.K. Manikantan, a farmer, accused authorities of biased water distribution. “Water bodies in major cities and villages are getting filled under the scheme, but remote villages like ours are ignored. Many ponds here are still without sufficient water. This negligence will earn the government disrepute among farmers and the public,” he said.
However, officials of the Water Resources Department (WRD) have assured that the problems will be rectified shortly. A senior WRD official from the Avinashi Division explained that damage to project lines during the recent Avinashi-Mettupalayam road expansion works had disrupted water supply at nine locations.
“Damage at starting points in the lines also led to pumps shutting down completely. These issues will be resolved in a few days,” the official said.
The official added that water had already reached 387 water bodies in the Avinashi Division this financial year and pointed out that 1,330 mcft of surplus water was drawn from the Bhavani River for the project last year.
Another senior WRD official from the Perundurai Division said the pumping process had slowed because of water hyacinths blocking intake points in the river.
The Athikadavu-Avinashi Project, which became operational in August 2024, aims to divert surplus water from the Bhavani River to 1,045 water bodies and irrigate 24,468 acres of farmland across Erode, Tiruppur, and Coimbatore districts. Farmers say that unless the distribution issues are addressed immediately, they will be forced to intensify their protests.
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