Farmers demand PWD to renovate damaged Krishna water canal
As the canal supplying Krishna water from the Kandaleru reservoir to Poondi reservoir in Chennai is in a very bad state, impeding the smooth flow of water, farmers in and around the area have urged the Public Works Department to take up the repair works so as to ensure that there is no wastage of water.
By : migrator
Update: 2019-06-12 21:07 GMT
Tiruvallur
The water from Kandaleru dam in Andhra Pradesh is usually stored in Poondi reservoir for the purpose of supplyng drinking water to Chennai.
Speaking to DT Next, Gopalan, a farmer and resident of Uthukottai said that the canal which stretches to about 152 kilometres in Andhra Pradesh and reaches to a zero point from where it travels another 25 kilometres before reaching Poondi reservoir is in a very bad shape.
“Especially in the stretch passing through Uthukottai and surrounding areas, the canal is completely broken, thus obstructing the smooth flow of water. As a result, a large quantity of water gets wasted,” Gopalan said.
He added that despite giving several complaints to the Public Works Department officials, no action has been taken so far.
When questioned about the problem, PWD Executive Engineer Muthaiah said that this was a huge issue and that action would be taken soon. “We have periodically done repairs as and when we receive complaints and will take up this issue and ensure no water loss happens,” he said.
PWD officials also claimed that part of the reason for the damaged canals was that several farmers were drilling holes in the canal to pilfer Krishna water to the farmlands. “We have fixed a large number of such illegal pipelines but still new ones keep popping out,” another official said.
As per the agreement between Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, the neighbouring state has to release 12 TMC of water every year with 4 TMC to be supplied between January and April and another 8 TMC between July and October. The water is stored in the Poondi reservoir from where it is sent through metro water pipes.
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