Water from Erode's Kalingarayan canal to support farmers

COIMBATORE: Water from Kalingarayan canal in Erode was released on Monday afternoon, following chief minister J Jayalalithaa's orders. Farmers from Erode and neighbouring areas, though happy, say the water was released a little too late to save their crops. The release was delayed because the canal's walls were being lined with cement and brick to prevent pollution of water.
On Monday, collector V K Shanmugam opened the shutters releasing the water. The water will serve around 15,743 acres of farmlands in the district. "It will not just benefit farmers for irrigation, but will also help improve the area's water table," said Shanmugam.
"It even flows into residential areas in remote suburbs of the district," he added.
The canal's walls, 97 miles long, were lined with an extra wall-like layer at a cost of 91 crore. The irrigation is likely to benefit about 10,000 farmers, according to E A Velayudham, head of a famers' committee in the area.
However, farmers say the delay in the release of water has caused a loss of around 50 crore.
"The water should have been released on June 16," says Velayudham. "It was delayed because workers were delaying the completion of the canal strengthening work," he said. With no pre-monsoon showers and a drought last year, crops had reportedly dried up. "We cultivate sugarcane and plantains. Both have completely dried up as there were no rains and no water from the canal for six months. The ground water was not enough for irrigation purposes ," said Velayudham. "Now with the water from the dam, we will have to see if we can re-invest in crops again," he said. While around 10,000 farmers own land across the district, around 30,000 families depend on agriculture in different ways like farm labour, crop cleaning and transport, said Velayudham.